A Call for Deeper Interest in Political Dynamics of Territorial Autonomies

Maria Ackrén

University of Greenland

In this blog post, I argue that we need focused comparative studies of political dynamics in territorial autonomies. Drawing examples from Nordic autonomies, I demonstrate how politics and political parties in territorial autonomies differ in their aspirations and functions, before making a call for a broader comparative approach for explaining territorial autonomies through understanding their political dynamics.

Elections form an integral part of democratic politics. Political parties and individuals work to attract voters and receive support from the public in each election. States with multiple levels of government arrange elections on each level of government; local, regional, national and/or EU-level. However, most of the research on elections in territorial autonomies is focused on elections for national parliaments, and less attention is directed towards the regional and local levels. Some researchers, such as Baroncelli, Rosini and Farneti as well as Massetti and Schakel, have done excellent work in relation to regional parties and their representation within national parliamentary elections. Yet, the political dynamics of what is happening within the regional elections are less studied. There have been some efforts to study the various forms of political parties at the regional level, such as the divisions between secessionist, autonomist, and irredentist parties (see for example Dandoy and De Winter & Türsan). Secessionist parties strive to achieve sovereignty as their primary objective, while autonomist parties are working towards solidifying the existing autonomy or maintaining the status quo. The irredentist parties, or ethnic (nationalist) parties, are usually working to preserve their distinct cultural and linguistic status within a certain region and have an ambition to reintegrate with a historical border region.

The political dynamics of territorial autonomies seem to vary, and recent research shows that even within the Nordic region, we see different dynamics. In the Åland Islands (an autonomous region within Finland), there is a correlation between urban/rural and left/right dimensions in politics (with urban voters tending to vote for left-aligned or centre-aligned parties, while rural voters tend to vote for right-aligned parties), while in the Faroe Islands and Greenland (autonomous regions within Denmark) there is a correlation between sovereignty/unionism and left/right dimensions (with left-aligned parties tending to be secessionist, and right-aligned parties tending to be autonomist). 

A new election is scheduled to be held in the Åland Islands in the autumn of 2023 and there are some expectations that we will see a new government taking form. The traditional parties with the highest support will probably take the lead and several opinion polls show that the competition will be tense between the Liberals (centre-right-aligned), Social Democrats (left-aligned), and the Centre Party (centre-aligned). The Moderates (right-aligned) and the Non-Aligned Coalition (centre-aligned but does not really follow any alignment) are also parties in the mix, as well as Sustainable Initiative (left-aligned) and Åland’s Future (right-aligned). Most voters are concentrated around the only town Mariehamn and the largest municipalities, while fewer voters are from the archipelago and smaller municipalities. This follows the distribution of the population at large on the Åland Islands. The gender division shows that men are in majority in the Ålandic parliament, which has been a trend since the first election back in 1922 to today. There is a tendency that there are more male candidates than women participating in the elections.

The Faroe Islands and Greenland show a dynamic between sovereignty/unionism and left/right in their regional elections. The Faroe Islands have seen a division between secessionist and autonomist parties lately where approximately half of the electorate support either secessionism or autonomism/unionism. In Greenland we see most political parties supporting secessionism, but they cannot agree on the timetable for independence, and what kind of independence Greenland will aim for. Some parliamentarians from both Danish regions have recently expressed some views about revising the existing relationship between the regions and the so-called Danish Realm. They see the current relationships as outdated and in need of being taken into the 21st century, but they have not provided any clear suggestions of what new form of governance or relationship that would be. 

The latest election in 2019 of the Faroese Parliament resulted in a coalition of a secessionist party (Fólkaflokkurin), an autonomist party (Sambandsflokkurin) together with the Centre Party (Miðflokkurin) (standing in centre of politics) coming to power, while the current opposition is divided between the Social Democrats (an autonomist party), a left-wing party (Tjóðveldi), the Future Party (Framsókn) and the Social Liberals (Sjálvstýri). All latter three are secessionist parties. The gender division in the Faroese Parliament is also in favour of men, but following the latest election, one-third of Faroese parliamentarians are women. in the Åland Islands there is a tendency for more men than women to stand as candidates in the elections.

Following the latest election in 2021 in Greenland, a coalition was formed between the left-wing party Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) and Naleraq (a centre-right party) (both secessionist parties) with support from the autonomist/unionist party Atassut (a right-wing party). However, this coalition remained viable only for the first year and due to problems with collaboration a new coalition between IA and Siumut (Social Democrats) (a secessionist party) was formed. Currently, Naleraq and Demokraatit (right-wing) are in opposition, both of which are secessionist parties. As most of the parties are in favour of independence a proposal for a Greenlandic constitution was presented in late April 2023. The work on the proposal started in 2017 but was delayed largely due to the Constitutional Committee facing challenges with staff turnover. There remain some uncertainties in relation to the proposed constitutional text. The political debate on the proposed constitution is scheduled for autumn 2023 in the Greenlandic Parliament. The trend in the Greenlandic Parliament is that we often see small ad hoc parties come and go between elections, but the real competition remains between the traditional and established parties. The gender division in the Greenlandic Parliament is near fifty-fifty between men (55%) and women (45%). Greenland has more women than the Åland Islands and Faroe Islands have in its parliament. Here we see another tendency when it comes to participation in the elections. 

This blog post has provided a brief window into the political dynamics in three Nordic autonomous regions. I argue that the political dynamics within territorial autonomies should be studied in more detail since this is the foundation of politics within the region. This is relevant to understand the political goals that regional governments have and their efforts for either more autonomy or sovereignty. It also gives us a picture of the opinions of the citizens living in these regions and the challenges and opportunities they are facing in their daily lives. The political debates might also be diverse in relation to their metropolitan powers and within and/or between territorial autonomies themselves. A comparative approach would detect patterns of political dynamics that we might not be aware of now. While case studies are helpful to generate a database, it is equally important to have a broader comparative approach to better understand territorial autonomies through their complex political dynamics. This would enable us to learn more about how these special regions work and function in practice. 

Maria Ackrén is Associate Professor of Political Science and the Head of Arctic Social Sciences and Economics at the University of Greenland.

This blog post is a result of a workshop of the network of scholars of territorial autonomy initiated by the Åland Islands Peace Institute. The network first met and discussed ‘The Many Faces of Territorial Autonomy’ at a workshop in Berlin, convened in cooperation with the Finland Institute in Berlin. The blog symposium is hosted by the IACL Research Group on Constitutionalism and Societal Pluralism: Diversity Governance Compared.

Maria Ackrén, ‘A Call for Deeper Interest in Political Dynamics of Territorial Autonomies’ IACL-AIDC Blog (10 October 2023) https://blog-iacl-aidc.org/territorial-autonomy/2023/10/10/a-call-for-deeper-interest-in-political-dynamics-of-territorial-autonomies