Kansanedustuslaitos

Kansanedustuslaitos is a Finnish term that translates roughly as “the institution of people’s representation.” It is a historical label used to describe the legislative body that represents the Finnish people, in contrast to other possible names for the same body in different eras or languages. In practice the phrase appeared in texts to denote the parliament or its representative component within Finland’s political system.

Historically, the expression was used during periods when Finland’s governing assemblies were organized as representative bodies within the framework of the Diet or its successors. The exact form and powers of such a body varied over time, as Finland moved from estates-based representation to more modern parliamentary structures. The term emphasizes the function of representing the population and participating in lawmaking, budgeting, and oversight of the government.

With the parliamentary reform of the early 20th century, culminating in the 1906–1907 changes that created a unicameral Eduskunta (the Parliament of Finland) with universal suffrage, the contemporary name for the institution shifted. Since then, kansanedustuslaitos has largely fallen out of everyday use and is encountered mainly in historical texts, dictionaries, or discussions about the evolution of Finland’s political language. In modern Finnish, eduskunta is the standard term for the national parliament, and kansanedustuslaitos is regarded as an archaic or descriptive label.