sleeping party

A Finnish political expression that usually resurfaces at the time of a parliamentary (or other major) election, referring to the part of voters that did not use their right to vote and "slept at home" instead. A recurrent joke in Finnish newspaper caricatures, especially when the voter turnout remains low enough to give the "sleepers" a major backing.

The actual term in Finnish is "nukkuvien puolue" which literally means "the party of those who sleep" or, more succinctly and accurately in my opinion, "the sleepy party".

Finnish members of the sleepy party are usually found in urban regions due to the wide-spread apathy regarding the Finnish political system. The Finnish system is often considered a single-party parliamentarism by the voters, especially when conversations turn to economic policy. This is caused by the formidable Finnish legacy (and, sometimes, burden) of social democracy. Most Finnish parties (all the large ones) stand on the left when considered on an international scale - whether they like it or not. The Finnish welfare state was created by these policies and the people wish to keep the system, thus stemming the arrival of new ideas. This, on the other hand, creates political homogeneity which inspires apathy and membership in the sleepy party.