Between Horizontality and Centralisation: Organisational Form and Practice in the Finns Party

This article provides the first comprehensive analysis of the Finns Party’s (Perussuomalaiset [PS]) formal organisation and how it operates in practice. Following the framework of this thematic issue, to what extent does the PS’s organisation follow the mass-party model and how centralised is the pa...

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Autor principal:	Niko Hatakka
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Cogitatio 2021
Materias:	activism finns party party democracy party organisation populist radical right social media Political science (General) JA1-92
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/b637a3937116415ebbc48566763594ed
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:b637a3937116415ebbc48566763594ed2021-11-24T11:48:17ZBetween Horizontality and Centralisation: Organisational Form and Practice in the Finns Party2183-246310.17645/pag.v9i4.4560https://doaj.org/article/b637a3937116415ebbc48566763594ed2021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.cogitatiopress.com/politicsandgovernance/article/view/4560https://doaj.org/toc/2183-2463This article provides the first comprehensive analysis of the Finns Party’s (Perussuomalaiset [PS]) formal organisation and how it operates in practice. Following the framework of this thematic issue, to what extent does the PS’s organisation follow the mass-party model and how centralised is the party in its internal decision-making? Analysis of party documents, association registries, and in-depth interviews with 24 party elite representatives reveal that the PS has developed a complex organisational structure and internal democracy since 2008. However, the power of members in regard to the party’s internal decision-making remains limited, despite the party’s leadership having facilitated a more horizontal and inclusionary organisational culture after 2017. The study reveals how the party combines radically democratic elements of its leadership selection and programme development with a very high level of centralisation of formal power in the party executive, and how the party organisationally relies on a vast and autonomous but heterogeneous network of municipal associations. The article also discusses how PS elites perceive the advantages of having a wide and active organisation characterised by low entry and participation requirements, and how party-adjacent online activism both complements and complicates the functioning of the formal party organisation.Niko HatakkaCogitatioarticleactivismfinns partyparty democracyparty organisationpopulist radical rightsocial mediaPolitical science (General)JA1-92ENPolitics and Governance, Vol 9, Iss 4, Pp 296-306 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	activism finns party party democracy party organisation populist radical right social media Political science (General) JA1-92
spellingShingle	activism finns party party democracy party organisation populist radical right social media Political science (General) JA1-92 Niko Hatakka Between Horizontality and Centralisation: Organisational Form and Practice in the Finns Party
description	This article provides the first comprehensive analysis of the Finns Party’s (Perussuomalaiset [PS]) formal organisation and how it operates in practice. Following the framework of this thematic issue, to what extent does the PS’s organisation follow the mass-party model and how centralised is the party in its internal decision-making? Analysis of party documents, association registries, and in-depth interviews with 24 party elite representatives reveal that the PS has developed a complex organisational structure and internal democracy since 2008. However, the power of members in regard to the party’s internal decision-making remains limited, despite the party’s leadership having facilitated a more horizontal and inclusionary organisational culture after 2017. The study reveals how the party combines radically democratic elements of its leadership selection and programme development with a very high level of centralisation of formal power in the party executive, and how the party organisationally relies on a vast and autonomous but heterogeneous network of municipal associations. The article also discusses how PS elites perceive the advantages of having a wide and active organisation characterised by low entry and participation requirements, and how party-adjacent online activism both complements and complicates the functioning of the formal party organisation.
format	article
author	Niko Hatakka
author_facet	Niko Hatakka
author_sort	Niko Hatakka
title	Between Horizontality and Centralisation: Organisational Form and Practice in the Finns Party
title_short	Between Horizontality and Centralisation: Organisational Form and Practice in the Finns Party
title_full	Between Horizontality and Centralisation: Organisational Form and Practice in the Finns Party
title_fullStr	Between Horizontality and Centralisation: Organisational Form and Practice in the Finns Party
title_full_unstemmed	Between Horizontality and Centralisation: Organisational Form and Practice in the Finns Party
title_sort	between horizontality and centralisation: organisational form and practice in the finns party
publisher	Cogitatio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/b637a3937116415ebbc48566763594ed
work_keys_str_mv	AT nikohatakka betweenhorizontalityandcentralisationorganisationalformandpracticeinthefinnsparty
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Between Horizontality and Centralisation: Organisational Form and Practice in the Finns Party

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