Aktiiviset ja passiiviset äänestäjät

Authors

• Voitto Helander

Abstract

The main purpose of the study has been to shed light on the characteristics of the Finnish nonvoters through a longitudinal multi-election analysis. The empirical analysis is based on a random sample of the electorate in a middle — size Finnish city, Turku. The voting behaviour of the sample was followed in six successive elections during 1979—1987. The main findings point out that generalizations made in one — election studies mainly hold true also in this study. There are, however, certain exceptions which characterize the electorate when analyzed longitudinally. Among those persons (about 5 %) who did not vote in any of the six elections under consideration especially two groups emerged. One group was composed of elderly single persons with only a few daily contacts with other people. The other remarkable nonvoting group was composed of young persons with numerous contextual changes.