2020, Vol., No.26

Journal of the Scandinavian Society of Korea 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 0.21

pISSN : 1229-8646
https://journal.kci.go.kr/jssk

This article aims to provide a systemic analysis on the Finnish government’s basic income (BI) project (2017-2018), the first BI experiment at the nation-state level. To this end, it studies (1) its historical-political contexts, (2) design and implementation process, (3) final results and their implications, and (4) the future prospect of institutionalizing BI in Finland. The case is important in that Finland is the only Nordic welfare state having continuously debated the feasibility of BI ideas, with various policy proposals presented by different political parties; it was a government-driven social innovations experiment to explore a sustainable future of the universal welfare state. However, revealing contradicting elements such as expanding universalism while introducing new sanctions on the unemployed, the project initiated by the then-PM Juha Sipilä (Centre Party) showed limitations in its design and implementing process. The Activation Model is particularly criticized to have affected the final results. Despite general improvements in economic and subjective well-being indicators, impacts on employment rates remained lower than aimed. A significant problem is that it can hardly be discernable how two different mechanisms affected employment rates’ change. Along with obscure results, the future prospect of BI institutionalization in Finland seems to be uncertain. Simultaneously, there remains a possibility for the Finnish government to launch another experiment of basic income (NIT-format) in near future.

This article investigates the institutional features of the parliamental election system and candidate selection system in Denmark and Sweden, which maintain high parliamentary democracy among Scandinavian countries, and examines the validity of existing research hypotheses on the reform of proportional representation electoral system and the selection of candidates within parties. Denmark and Sweden has a unicameral parliament composed of members elected by selective semi-open list PR system, and the selection procedures for party candidate is generally decentralized and the subjects of candidates selection inclusive. The characteristics of the candidate selection and nomination process of major parties in Denmark and Sweden are the weakening of the influence of the traditional core support groups of the political parties, enlargement of influence by ordinary party members to the candidate selection or staged selection processes, and list constructed by the organization of constituency. In the course of discussions on the reform of parliamental electoral system in Korea, demand for democratic review on the method of nominating proportional representative candidates has been raised in order to enhance party democracy. However, in addition to the selection procedures and rules for, nomination of party candidates are influenced by the systemic effects of the list PR system and an electoral strategic consideration of the party leadership. Therefore, if we focus only on the nomination process or procedural democracy, it is likely to be overlooked that other intervening factors affecting to the outcome of candidate nomination outcome. Under the List PR system it is necessary to consider the method of drawing up the list, the size of the party, common behavior of informal interaction within center and local party leaders through selection procedures, and the party politics culture as factors affecting the selection of candidate within party. In order to achieve the effect of improving parliamentary democracy through reform of the electoral system and improvement of the selection procedures for party candidate in Korea, a democratic party politics culture based on mutual agreement of major political parties should be accompanied.

Sweden has the biggest share of biogas in transport sector among the member states of the European Union. The government of Sweden announced an official plan to replace its gas vehicles in transport sector with biogas vehicles 100% by 2030. The exemption of energy and CO2 taxes is assessed to be the most influential policy in expanding biogas in transport sector. The fact that the European Commission has recently approved the extension of the exemption of the fuel tax of the Sweden’s transport sector has proved the effectiveness of the policy. But, the approval from the European Commission for review of the fuel tax of member states can constrain promotion of the renewable fuel as it can conflict the prevailing consensus of opinion among the member states that the expansion and development of energy sources is deeply concerned with energy security. Thus, amendment in the state aid relevent guideline of the European Commission needs to be made in that the review and the approval should be made at the level of state. In parallel with that, Strengthening promotion of the proven voluntary food waste sorting-out policy to secure the wastes of quality for production of biogas, expanding the refueling and recharging places of biogas, and boosting the existing incentives of biogas for promotion of private investments into National Gas Grid, should be put into consideration for expanding biogas in transport sector of Sweden. Last but not least, as the biogas has big locality as renewable energy source, the set-up of integrated and cohesive guideline considerinng the locality in terms of expanding biogas vehicles in number, is thought to be the most significant factor to consider, as it can help secure the biogas of quality, and strengthen the conditions of the relevant infrastructure.