1. Tampere 7.10.2010 FINNISH DEMOCRACY AND CITIZENSHIP TAMPERE 7.10.2010 Timo Rajala Chairman of the City Council of Akaa Welcome, everybody!

2. Tampere 7.10.2010 Democracy? Meaning? Can you eat it? Free possibility to take part on decisionmaking in society One solution how to organize decisionmaking and the use of power Direct by voting in referendums, taking part in political activities (parties, direct action, writing in newspapers etc.) Indirect by voting in elections

3. Tampere 07.10.2010 Many elections: the Parliament of Finland (2011) Municipal Councils (2012) the President of Rebublic (2012) the European Parliament (2014) Parish Councils (2010)

4. Tampere 07.10.2010 Basic rights of the citizen’s of Finland: EQUALITY: male, age, ethnic origin, language, religion, sexual orientation, health, opinion, before the law FREEDOM: personal freedom, safety, fair trail, SAFETY OF PROPERTY FREEDOM TO MOVE FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY FREEDOM OF SPEECH OPEN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION RIGHT TO VOTE IN ELECTIONS RIGHT TO WORK, EDUCATION all these are very important rights and freedoms if we think about democracy in Finland.

5. Tampere 07.10.2010 Freedom of assembly: free possibility to join in different associations (political, cultural, sportative, what ever legal purpose), Political Parties: important part of Finnish democracy Right of initiative (municipal!) Freedom of speech: Free media: newspapers, radio, TV, internet, facebook Freedom to join in labour unions

6. Tampere 07.10.2010 1.Parliamentary election 2011 ”Sovereign power in Finland belongs to the people, represented by Parliament in session. The Finnish Parliament is unicameral and comprises 200 representatives.” (Constitution) -Members are elected every fourth year -Next time 17.4.2011

7. Tampere 07.10.2010 -Long history: the 1st election 1907, also women get the right to vote! -Duties: a) enact the laws b) decide the State budget c) adopt international agreements d) supervise the activities of authorities e) choose the Prime Minister

8. Tampere 07.10.2010 -Right to vote: regardless of domicile, every Finnish citizen who has reached the age of 18 not later than on the day of the election is entitled to vote. -Candidates are set by the political parties. -from our area Pirkanmaa (Tampere and surroundings) 18 candidates will be elected

9. Tampere 07.10.2010 2. Municipal Elections -every fourth year, next time at 2012 -councillors of the municipalities (342) -the number of councillors depends on the population of a municipality (17-85) -In Tampere 67, Akaa 43, Helsinki 85 e.g.

10. Tampere 07.10.2010 -right to vote: Entitled to vote in municipal elections are 1) citizens of Finland or another Member State of the European Union as well as of Iceland and Norway who have reached the age of 18 not later than on the day of the election, and whose municipality of residence, as defined by law, is the municipality in question on the 51st day before election day, and

11. Tampere 07.10.2010 2) other foreigners who have reached the age of 18 not later than on the day of the election, and whose municipality of residence, as defined by law, is the municipality in question on the 51st day before election day, and who at that time have had a municipality of residence in Finland for an uninterrupted period of two years.

12. Tampere 07.10.2010 Eligible as candidates are persons 1) whose municipality of residence is the municipality in question, 2) who are entitled to vote in municipal elections in some municipality, and 3) who are not legally incompetent. Candidates may be nominated 1) by parties entered in the party register and 2) by constituency associations established by people entitled to vote.party register

13. Tampere 07.10.2010 City Council is the highest political decisionmaker in the municipality. -Economy (taxes and fees) -Services (health care, social services, basic education, infrastructure, city planning e.g.),how to arrange -Administration

14. Tampere 07.10.2010 City Board: important! Committees Working Groups …

15. Tampere 07.10.2010 European Parliament According to the Treaty of Lisbon, which entered into force in December 2009, the European Parliament is composed of at the most 751 members. The number of Finnish members is 13. In earlier European Elections the number of members elected from Finland has been: 16 members in 1996, 16 members in 1999 and 14 members in 2004. According to the Treaty of Lisbon the seats are allocated between the Member States during the parliamentary term 2009-2014 as follows: (in brackets the number of seats according to the Treaty of Nice, if this differs from the number according to the Treaty of Lisbon. In the European Elections 2009 the seats were allocated according to the Treaty of Nice): the Netherlands 26 (25), Belgium 22, Bulgaria 18 (17), Spain 54 (50), Ireland 12, Italy 73 (72), Austria 19 (17), Greece 22, Cyprus 6, Latvia 9 (8), Lithuania 12, Luxembourg 6, Malta 6 (5), Portugal 22, Poland 51 (50), France 74 (72), Romania 33, Sweden 20 (18), Germany 96 (99), Slovakia 13, Slovenia 8 (7), Finland 13, Denmark 13, the Czech Republic 22, Hungary 22, Estonia 6 and the United Kingdom 73 (72).

16. Tampere 07.10.2010 Citizenship: rights and freedoms><duties Rights: see before concerning Democracy Duties: a) military service b) compulsory education c) status (every one must have first name and surname)

17. Tampere 07.10.2010 Citizenship: A person’s Finnish citizenship can be based on: the citizenship of a parent or adoptive parent (parentage principle), birth in Finland (birthplace principle), the parents’ marriage (legitimation), application (naturalisation), or declaration.

18. Tampere 07.10.2010 See more: www.vaalit.fi www.migri.fi www.timorajala.net Newsweek: Finland World’s Best Country THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR ATTENTION!!!