Polarization in the Finnish Parliament (Eduskunta)

In this work, a detailed analysis of the dynamics of the polarization index of the Finnish Parliament in the period from 1983 to 2014 was carried out. The results of the calculations confirmed the claimed early hypothesis. Amendments to the old constitution as well as the adoption of a new constitution weakened the power of the President and strengthened the Parliament, which means that during the observation period (1983-2014), the Parliament increasingly became the backbone of the executive branch. In the logic of research on the interaction of the branches of power (Shugart and Carey), it has the following effect: earlier, the parliamentary parties had less incentive to reach a compromise (on whether there was a compromise or not, the normal functioning of the Government depended less, because the great influence on it had the President) than after the beginning of the reforms. Calculations confirmed that with the gradual weakening of the President, all large government coalitions were created and the parties sought to find a compromise. The general hypothesis of the study was confirmed: with the gradual reduction of the President's power in favor of the Parliament, the parliamentary parties have more and more incentives to cooperate and reach compromises, and the polarization in parliament is declining.