When a pariah party exploits its demonised status: the 2019 Finnish general election

The governing Centre and Conservative parties played the 'economy' card - we've got Finland 'back into shape'; the green parties, the Greens and Left Alliance, played the 'climate change' card, demanding action to go with the talk; the Social Democrats played the &...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inWest European politics Vol. 43; no. 1; pp. 260 - 273
Main Author Arter, David
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Routledge 02.01.2020
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Alliances
climate action
Climate change
Coalition governments
Democracy
Demonstrations & protests
Green parties
immigration
Older people
pariah party
Populism
Social democracy
Finland
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Summary:The governing Centre and Conservative parties played the 'economy' card - we've got Finland 'back into shape'; the green parties, the Greens and Left Alliance, played the 'climate change' card, demanding action to go with the talk; the Social Democrats played the 'caring' card and the need for a Finland that cares for the elderly, the low-paid and young persons; the Finns Party in contrast played the 'no one likes us, we don't care' card, seeking to exploit its pariah status for electoral gain. The adoption of a siege mentality strategy, designed to capitalise on its ostracised position, served to mobilise protest support and the Finns Party came within a whisker of beating the Social Democrats into second place. The Social Democrats then turned the clock back and put together the type of left‒centre ('red mud') coalition that had characterised Finnish governments for half a century from the mid-1930s onwards.
ISSN:0140-2382
1743-9655
DOI:10.1080/01402382.2019.1635799