Finland is a republic whose head of state is President Alexander Stubb, who leads the nation's foreign policy and is the supreme commander of the Finnish Defence Forces.

The citizens of Finland enjoy many individual and political freedoms, and suffrage is universal at the age of 18; Finnish women became the first in the world to have unrestricted rights both to vote and to run for public office.

Few tensions exist between the Finnish-speaking majority and the Swedish-speaking minority, although in certain circles there is an unending debate about the status of the Swedish language.

[6][needs update] According to the V-Dem Democracy indices Finland in was 2023 the 13th most electoral democratic country in the world.

The Council of People's Commissars of Soviet Russia, chaired by Lenin, recognized Finland's independence on 31 December 1917, and soon after that many other states followed.

[9] According to the ceasefire agreement, in addition to the territorial losses following the Winter War, Finland had to hand over Petsamo and lease Porkkala as a base for 50 years.

Finland's partnership with NATO was historically based on its policy of military non-alignment, which changed following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In principle, the constitutionality of laws in Finland is verified by a simple vote by Parliament (see parliamentary sovereignty).

An example of such a law is the State of Preparedness Act, which gives the Government certain exceptional powers in cases of national emergency.

[citation needed] Some matters are decided by the President of Finland, the Head of State, in plenary meetings with the government, echoing the constitutional history of a privy council.

The President is otherwise not present in the government, but decides on issues such as personal appointments and pardons on the advice of the relevant minister.

The Government produces most of the material that the Parliament deals with, such as proposals for new laws or legislative reforms, and the annual budget.

The final legislative power is vested in Parliament, in conjunction with the President of the Republic, according to the Finnish Constitution.

Legislation may be initiated by the Government, or one of the members of Parliament, who are elected for a four-year term on the basis of proportional representation through open list multi-member districts.

Persons 18 or older, except military personnel on active duty and a few high judicial officials, are eligible for election.

The regular parliamentary term is four years; however, the president may dissolve the eduskunta and order new elections at the request of the prime minister and after consulting the speaker of parliament.

The parliament has, since equal and common suffrage was introduced in 1906, been dominated by secular Conservatives, the Centre Party (former Agrarian Union), and Social Democrats.

Support for Communists decreased sharply in the early 1980s, while later in the same decade environmentalists formed the Green League, which is now one of the largest parties.

Additionally, the Constitutional Committee has the sole power to refer a case to the High Court of Impeachment (valtakunnanoikeus) and to authorize police investigations for this purpose.

For example, the law on primary education lists the subjects to be taught, and the regulation specifies the required number of teaching hours.

Finland's proportional representation system encourages a multitude of political parties and since about 1980 the trend has been that the same coalition rules for the whole period between elections.

[27] Proceedings are inquisitorial, where judges preside, conduct finding of fact, adjudication and giving of sanctions such as sentences; no juries are used.

The centres implement labor and industrial policy, provide employment and immigration services, and promote culture; maintain highways, other transport networks and infrastructure; and protect, monitor and manage the environment, land use and water resources.

It enjoys local autonomy by virtue of an international convention of 1921, implemented most recently by the Act on Åland Self-Government of 1951.

Central government allocates different amounts of funding to the different wellbeing services counties depending on the structure of their population.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Finland freed itself from the last restrictions imposed on it by the Paris peace treaties of 1947.

The Finnish-Soviet Agreement of Friendship, Co-operation, and Mutual Assistance (and the restrictions included therein) was annulled but Finland recognised the Russian Federation as the successor of the USSR and was quick to draft bilateral treaties of goodwill as well as reallocating Soviet debts.

It could be perhaps said that the country's policy of neutrality has been moderated to "military non-alignment" with an emphasis on maintaining a competent independent defence.

[42] Finland-Russia relations have been under pressure with annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, which Finland considers illegal.

Finland's partnership with NATO was historically based on its policy of military non-alignment, which changed following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.