Finland has a semi-presidential system with Parliamentarism. The President of Finland is formally responsible for foreign policy. Most executive power lies in the cabinet (”Council of State”) headed by the prime minister chosen by the parliament. The Council of State is made up of the prime minister and the ministers for the various departments of the central government as well as an ex-officio member, the Chancellor of Justice.

Constitutionally, the 200-member, unicameral parliament, the Eduskunta (Finnish) or Riksdag (Swedish), is the supreme legislative authority in Finland. It may alter the constitution, bring about the resignation of the Council of State, and override presidential vetoes. Its acts are not subject to judicial review. Legislation may be initiated by the Council of State, or one of the Eduskunta members, who are elected for a four-year term on the basis of proportional representation through open list multimember districts.

The judicial system is divided between courts with regular civil and criminal jurisdiction and administrative courts with responsibility for litigation between the individuals and the administrative organs of the state and the communities. Their jurisdiction can be illustrated with an example: Parents unsatisfied with the school placement of their child would appeal against the board of education in an administrative court as the school placement is subject to an administrative decision. Finnish law is codified and its court system consists of local courts, regional appellate courts, and a Supreme Court. The administrative branch of justice consists of administrative courts and a Supreme Administrative Court. The administrative process has more popularity as it is cheaper and has lower financial risk to the person making claims. In addition to the regular courts, there is a few special courts in certain branches of administration and a High Court of Impeachment for criminal cases against the President of Republic, the members of supreme courts and the cabinet, Chancellor of Justice and the Ombudsman of Parliament.

The parliament has, since equal and common suffrage was introduced in 1906, been dominated by Conservative Nationalists, Agrarians, and Social Democrats — after 1944 also Communists have been a factor to consider. Liberal parties and ideologues may have been somewhat less prominent in Finland than in many comparable countries. The relative strengths of the parties vary only slightly in the elections due to the proportional election from multimember districts but there are some visible long-term trends.

It should be noted that the Finnish political system remained democratic during the Cold War; although the political atmosphere was largely influenced by the neighbouring Soviet Union and a certain degree of self-censorship.

The constitution of Finland and its place in the judicial system are unusual in that there is no constitutional court and the supreme court does not have an explicit right to declare a law unconstitutional. In principle, the constitutionality of laws in Finland is verified by a simple vote in the parliament. However, the Constitutional Law Committee of the parliament reviews any doubtful bills and recommends changes, if needed. In practice, the Constitutional Law Committee fulfils the duties of the constitutional court. A Finnish peculiarity is the possibility to make exceptions to the constitution in usual laws that are enacted in the same procedure as constitutional amendments. An example of such law is the State of Preparedness Act which gives the Council of State certain exceptional powers in cases of national emergency. As these powers, which correspond the US executive orders, violate the constitutional basic rights grossly, the law was enacted in the same manner as a constitutional amendment. However, it can be repealed in the same manner as a usual law. In addition to the preview of the Constitutional Law Committee, all Finnish courts of law have the obligation to give precedence to the constitution when there is an obvious conflict between the constitution and a regular law. There has, however, never been a case in which this provision would have been used. The only other European countries that lack a constitutional court are the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (which does not have a codified constitution).

Center Party or Kesk [Esko AHO]; Finnish Christian Union or SKL [C. P. Bjarne KALLIS]; Green Union [Satu HASSI]; Leftist Alliance (Communist) composed of People’s Democratic League and Democratic Alternative [Suvi-Anne SIIMES]; National Coalition (conservative) Party or Kok [Sauli NIINISTO]; Reform Group [Risto KUISMA]; Social Democratic Party or SDP [Paavo LIPPONEN]; Swedish People’s Party or SFP [Jan-Erik ENESTAM]; True Finns [Timo SOINI]