On the basis of MIPEX results it can be concluded that Finland is seen as one of the leading countries in granting political rights to migrants at the local level. Migrants in Finland are assessed to be enjoying full electorate rights and political liberties in local elections when certain requirements are fulfilled. In addition to this Finnish state has established ETNO – as a consultative body, that works as a bridge between state and immigration organizations at both regional and national level and has put in place several implementation policies to enable immigrants to make themselves heard.
Even though Finland performed well in the MIPEX report, there were some assessed gaps between the theoretical opportunities structures developed for immigrants and the reality. Political participation among immigrants was found to be significantly low in comparison to native Finns and so was the number of elected immigrant candidates. More worrying was the observation that saw Finland as having the lowest immigrant voting turnout among its Nordic neighbors and furthermore the declining voting turnout trend among its migrants.
When looking with the perspective of the institutional channeling theory Finland seemed to have very good political participation opportunities for immigrants...it seemed that the culture of political participation amongst migrants have not become as strong in Finland as in Sweden or Norway...Several other factors and focus points were further briefly discussed and tried recommended as a means to encourage political participation amongst migrants and the overall integration process. The main factor being the extension of the political rights of migrants from local to national level by reducing barriers for the naturalization process. This is deemed to be an important instrument in advancement of the Finnish democracy. Obtaining citizenship in Finland is on the whole considered to be more difficult comparing to many other MIPEX countries and the Citizenship Act has also adopted a stricter stance since 2003...The roles of the Finnish political parties...
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