A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Clear commitments and signals of support: The inclusion of Finnish parties' electoral pledges in coalition agreements
Authors: Ylisalo, Juha; Nieminen, Sakari; Makkonen, Kimmo
Publisher: SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
Publishing place: LONDON
Publication year: 2025
Journal: Party Politics
Journal name in source: PARTY POLITICS
Journal acronym: PARTY POLIT
Number of pages: 12
ISSN: 1354-0688
eISSN: 1460-3683
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/13540688251319515
Web address : https://doi.org/10.1177/13540688251319515
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/484815161
Multiparty governments often draft extensive coalition agreements to enforce policy compromises made at the government formation stage. Given that such agreements have important policy consequences, parties have strong incentives to ensure that their key objectives are included. This study addresses the inclusion of parties' specific electoral pledges in the coalition agreements of three Finnish governments, based on over 1000 pledges. The results show that pledges falling into issue areas that were salient to parties' campaigns were relatively likely to be included, especially if the level of salience was approximately the same to the other government parties as well. In contrast, the probability of inclusion was lower where a party had made more pledges in an issue area. The analysis suggests that a notable share of government parties' pledges never became part of coalition agreements, but the pledges that were included reflected the most salient campaign themes.
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Funding information in the publication:
This work was supported by the Research Council of Finland (grant number 340660) and the Emil Aaltonen Foundation ('The life cycle of an electoral pledge in a multiparty democracy' project).
