The "Reputation&Trust " results for political parties reveal a crisis in public discourse
Reputation and Trust In the spring of 2026, Analytics measured the reputations of political parties in Finland and Sweden for the first time. The Reputation&Trust 2026 study points to a crisis in public discourse.
Reputation&Trust study on political parties examined all registered parties currently represented in the Finnish Parliament. The methodology used in the study is based on Reputation and Trust Analytics’Reputation&Trust.
Reputation&Trust a research model that measures perceptions associated with an organization across eight areas, including governance, finance, leadership, innovation, interaction, the workplace, and responsibility.
“In our study of political parties, the eighth area—a party’s relationship with democracy, that is, people’s perceptions of how well a party respects the rules of democracy and the democratic process, as well as how sincere parties are in building a better society,” explains the model’s developer, Riku Ruokolahti, Head of Development at Reputation and Trust Analytics Riku Ruokolahti.
“The survey results therefore do not reflect support for the parties, but rather their reputation among all citizens,” Ruokolahti emphasizes.
The Reputations of Political Parties in Finland
Only one party in Finland has a moderate reputation
In Finland, only one of the parties surveyed, Liike Nyt, achieved a moderate reputation; the party’s reputation score is 3.08. The reputation of all other parties is low.
On the research model’s five-point scale, an organization’s reputation is considered moderate if its reputation score falls between 3.00 and 3.49, and weak if the score is between 2.50 and 2.99.
The Finns Party was rated as having the lowest reputation in the study, with a score of 2.57, while the other parties’ reputation scores ranged from 2.72 to 2.96.
“The low standing of political parties reflects the fact that the culture of political debate in the country has become toxic. The debate has devolved into a situation where parties publicly criticize other parties instead of articulating their own visions. It is difficult to build a vision for a shared society and the challenges of the next legislative term when the debate appears so polarized and lacking in vision,” says Stefan Wallin, Senior Advisor at Reputation and Trust Analytics .
“Liike Nyt is less visible than other parties in public debate—and in political squabbles. In today’s fractured political culture, this is enough to boost its reputation,” Wallin continues.
The Reputations of Political Parties in Sweden
In Sweden, the two major parties have the highest approval ratings
Research findings in Sweden are consistent with those in Finland.
“The reputation of nearly all parties is low, and even those that reach a moderate level barely exceed the threshold for a moderate reputation: the Moderates’ reputation score is 3.05 and the Social Democrats’ is 3.04. Of course, unlike in Finland, in Sweden two of the country’s largest parties have a ‘moderate’ reputation,” notes Riku Ruokolahti.
The Sweden Democrats, the sister party of the Finns Party—Sweden's second-largest party—have a reputation score of 2.62.
In addition to questions measuring various aspects of reputation, the survey asked respondents for their views on whether the party’s existence is important. In Sweden, both the Moderaterna and the Socialdemokraterna parties received favorable ratings.
“In Finland, these ratings remained at a low or moderate level for all parties.
"There is greater consensus among Swedes that the existence of political parties is important," says Stefan Wallin.
The average reputation of political parties is at a low level
The average reputation score for all political parties is low in both Finland and Sweden: 2.83 in Finland and 2.79 in Sweden.
“There is also a positive side to these low results from the perspective of democracy: it shows that citizens do not blindly trust political decision-makers and are not afraid to criticize the parties in power,” says Stefan Wallin.
This is how we conducted the study
The aim ofReputation&Trust survey of political parties was to assess the reputation of the parties represented in each country’s parliament among Finns and Swedes. Data for the survey was collected via an online questionnaire between April 20 and May 17.
The parties were evaluated Reputation&Trust Reputation and Trust Analytics’ “Political Parties Reputation&Trust , in which an organization’s reputation score is calculated as the average of eight different sub-areas. These areas are the organization’s governance, finances, leadership, innovation, interaction, relationship with democracy, workplace, and responsibility. The study used a five-point rating scale (1–5).
The study included 2,543 Finns, who provided a total of 4,570 organizational evaluations, and 1,562 Swedes, who provided a total of 4,024 organizational evaluations. The study’s target group consisted of citizens aged 18–74 nationwide (excluding the Åland Islands in Finland). The sample was weighted to be representative of the population by political party, gender, age, region of residence, and voting behavior.
The margin of error for the entire data set is at most approximately 1.94 percentage points in Finland and at most approximately 2.48 percentage points in Sweden, in either direction.
For more information:
Riku Ruokolahti, Reputation and Trust Analytics, Director of Development, +358 400 512 200, riku.ruokolahti@reptrust.com
Antti Pennala, Reputation and Trust Analytics, Data Team Lead, +358 400 375 718, antti.pennala@reptrust.com
