Editing Liberalism and centrism in Finland

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This article gives an overview of '''liberalism and centrism in [[Finland]]'''. It is limited to [[liberalism|liberal]] and [[centrist]] [[political party|parties]] with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ means a reference to another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it is not necessary so that parties labeled themselves as a liberal party.

Liberalism was a major force in Finland since 1894. After independence the current gradually decreased. A major other force, agrarianism, choose in 1965 to develop itself into a more centrist current. The liberal character of the [[Centre Party (Finland)|Finnish Center]] (''Suomen Keskusta''), member of [[Liberal International|LI]] and [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party|ELDR]], is based on liberal ideas like [[decentralization]], peasant-like freedom and [[progressivism]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hs.fi/kirjat/artikkeli/Suomen+keskustanv%C3%A4kev%C3%A4+nuoruusMaalaisliiton+historian+toinen+osa+on+j%C3%A4rjest%C3%B6historian+eliitti%C3%A4/900525165.|title=Mylly, Juhani. Maalaisliitto-Keskustan historia II.}}</ref> The Swedish minority party [[Swedish People's Party (Finland)|Swedish People's Party]] (''Svenska Folkpartiet i Finland'') is also a member of [[Liberal International|LI]], [[Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party|ELDR]]. The original liberal current is now organized in the [[Liberals (Finland)|Liberals]] (''Liberaalit''), a very small extra-parliamentary party. At the autonomous island of [[Åland]] the [[Liberals for Åland]] (''Liberalerna på Åland'') are a dominant force.

==The timeline==
{{update|date=April 2017}}

===Liberal Club / Liberal Party===
*1877: Liberals formed the '''[[Liberal Club]]''' (''Liberaalinen Klubi''), renamed in 1880 '''Liberal Party''' (''Liberaalinen Puolue'')<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fsd.uta.fi/pohtiva/ohjelmalistat/LP/315|title=Pohtiva - Liberaalisen puolueen ohjelma|website=www.fsd.uta.fi}}</ref>
*1882: The Liberal Party disappeared

===From Young Finnish Party to Liberals===
*1894: Constitutionalist [[fennoman]]s organized into the '''[[Young Finnish Party|Young Finnish faction]]''' within the Finnish Party (''Nuorsuomalainen Puolue'')
*1905: The Young Finnish Party secedes from the Finnish Party.
*1918: The Republican factions of the two Finnish parties reorganise into the '''[[National Progressive Party of Finland|Progressive Party]]''' (''Kansallinen Edistyspuolue'')
*1951: The Progressive Party falls apart into the '''[[People's Party of Finland (1951)|Finnish People's Party]]''' (''Suomen Kansanpuolue'') and the ⇒ Free-minded League (''Vapaamielisten liitto'')
*1965: The People's Party and the ⇒ Free-minded League reunite into the '''[[Liberaalinen Kansanpuolue|Liberal People's Party]]''' (''Liberaalinen Kansanpuolue'')
*1982: The Liberal People's Party associated itself with the ⇒ Centre Party, whilst some liberal youth activists join the Greens.
*1983: The Liberal People's Party loses all of seats in the Parliament for the first time.
*1986: The Liberal People's Party disassociated itself from the ⇒ Centre Party
*1991: The Liberal People's Party returns to parliament with one MP.
*1995: The Liberal People's Party loses its only MP.
*2000: The Liberal People's Party renames itself '''[[Liberals (Finland)|Liberals]]''' (''Liberaalit'')
*2007: Removed from the party registry after failing to get a seat in two consecutive parliamentary elections

===Swedish People's Party===
*1906: Liberal [[svekoman]]s formed the present-day '''[[Swedish People's Party in Finland]]''' (''Svenska Folkpartiet i Finland'')
*1919: Republicans formed the '''[[Liberal Swedish Party]]''' (''Svensk Vänster'')
*1951: Liberal Swedish Party merged with SFP

===People's Party===
*1917: Progressive liberals formed the '''[[People's Party (Finland, 1917)|People's Party]]''' (''Kansanpuolue'')
*1918: The People's Party merged into the ⇒ National Progressive Party

===Free-minded League===
*1951: The ⇒ National Progressive Party fell apart and the '''[[Vapaamielisten Liitto|Free-minded League]]''' (''Vapaamielisten Liitto'') is formed
*1965: The League merged with the ⇒ Finnish People's Party into the ⇒ Liberal People's Party

===Centre Party / Finnish Centre===
'''Centrists'''
*1965: The agrarian ''[[Agrarian League (Finland)|Agrarian League]]'' (Maalaisliitto) reorganised itself into the '''[[Centre Party (Finland)|Centre Party]]''' (''Keskustapuolue'').
*1988: The Centre Party is renamed '''[[Centre Party (Finland)|Finnish Centre]]''' (''Suomen Keskusta'')

===Liberal Party – Freedom to Choose===
*2015: [[Liberal Party - Freedom to Choose]] is formed.
*2023: Liberal Party publishes #LeikattavaaLöytyy shadow budget to balance the national budget.

===Åland===
====Liberals for Åland====
*1967: Liberals organised itself into the '''[[Centrist Liberals]]''' (''Mittenliberalerna'')
*1971: The Centrist Liberals are renamed '''[[Electoral Union Liberal Assembly]]''' (''Valforbundet Liberal Samling'')
*1978: VLS and ⇒ LoS–Liberals merged into the '''[[Liberals for Åland]]''' (''Liberalerna på Åland'')

====Centre Party====
*1967: The '''[[Rural and Archipelago Electoral Union]]''' (''Landsbygdens och Skargardens Valforbund'') was founded
*1975: The '''[[LoS–Liberals]]''' (''LoS–Liberalerna'') seceded from the Rural and Archipelago Electoral Union
*1976: The Rural and Archipelago Electoral Union is renamed '''[[Åland Centre]]''' (''Åländska Centern'')
*1978: VLS and ⇒ LoS–Liberals merged into the ⇒ Liberals for Åland

==Liberal and centrist leaders==
*[[Kansallinen Edistyspuolue]]: [[Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg]]
*[[Maalaisliitto]]/[[Keskustapuolue]]: [[Urho Kekkonen]]
*[[Centre Party (Finland)|Keskusta]]: [[Esko Aho]] - [[Anneli Jäätteenmäki]] - [[Matti Vanhanen]] - [[Mari Kiviniemi]] - [[Juha Sipilä]]
*[[Svenska Folkpartiet]]: [[Ole Norrback]] - [[Jan-Erik Enestam]] - [[Stefan Wallin]] - [[Carl Haglund]]

==Liberal thinkers==
In the [[Contributions to liberal theory]] the following Finnish thinker is included:

*[[Santeri Alkio]] (Finland, 1862–1930)
*[[Anders Chydenius]] (Finland, 1729–1803)

==See also==
* [[History of Finland]]
* [[Politics of Finland]]
* [[List of political parties in Finland]]

==References==
{{Reflist}} 
{{Refimprove|date=January 2007}}
{{Europe topic|Liberalism in}}

[[Category:Liberalism by country|Finland]]
[[Category:Politics of Finland]]
[[Category:Centrism in Europe|Finland]]