Parties, Candidates and Citizens On-Line - Åbo Akademi

Nousiainen 1998, 55-59; Sundberg 1996, 209-210). Obviously, as elsewhere, the
boundaries between the Finnish parties’ target voters have become more fluid over time
(cf. Maarek 1995; Swanson & Mancini 1996). Scholars have nonetheless argued that the
role of the old ‘class-parties’ can be traced in the new voter bases of the Finnish parties
(Sundberg 1996, 212-3; Zilliacus 2001, 32).
Concerning the four parties included in cluster II – the SDP, SPP, Christian
Democrats and Alternative People – common denominators are also hard to find in the
theoretical backdrop. Regarding the type of voters, one could tentatively argue that none
of these parties have potential voters clearly resembling the socio-economic traits of the
typical internet user (cf. Norris 2001b, 78; Sundberg 1996, 118, 209-210). Even so, such
parties were also found in the first cluster, which indicates that the type of voters did not
discriminate between the two clusters. Regarding party goals, organization type and size,
these four parties represent the whole spectrum. The SDP is primarily a vote-maximizing
party but has a strong office-seeking agenda as well. The SPP is often part of the Finnish
government, possibly partly due to an emphasis on office-maximization. However, in
representing the Swedish speaking minority population, the party is mainly a policy-driven
party (Nousiainen 1998, 34-35; Sundberg 1996, 16). Similarly, the Alternative People
focuses specifically on anti-EU policy while the Christian Democrats mainly promotes
Christian values (Nousiainen 1998, 58). The Alternative People is hard to assess in terms
of organizational type. Nonetheless, the remaining parties display a mix of organization
types. The SDP has a mass-party background typical for socialist parties in western
countries but has over time evolved into a cartel party (cf. Löfgren 2001, 29; Nousiainen
1998, 34; Sundberg 1996, 16). The SPP is also often part of the governmental ‘cartel’.
Historically, though, the party has a cadre-like history as it sprang from several smaller
fractions coming together under one central organization (cf. Katz & Mair 1995, 19-20;
Nousiainen 1998, 34-35, 59-60; Sundberg 1996, 18). The Christian Democrats have a
hierarchical organization focused on strong leadership (cf. Zilliacus 2001, 39; Sundberg
1996, 75), which is one trait typical for catch-all parties (cf. Katz & Mair 1995, 7-8). In
terms of size, the SDP is one of the ‘big three’ in Finnish politics, the SPP and Christian
Democrats are minor parliamentary parties and the Alternative People is a fringe party.
In sum, with regard to the two party clusters found in the party questionnaire,
none of the four party traits seem to have any noticeable influence on the Finnish parties’
opinions concerning the importance and use of their websites. Nonetheless, certain
findings for individual parties – for example the Green League scoring highly on
engagement or the fringe parties being more positive towards the website than the major
parties – may still seem theoretically reasonable. In general, though, no theoretic
circumstance appears applicable in explaining the Finnish parties’ ‘inside view’ on their
websites.
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