normatiivisten

Normatiivisten is a Finnish inflected form of the adjective normatiivinen, meaning relating to norms, standards, or prescriptions. Specifically, normatiivisten is the genitive plural form, used to describe plural nouns in the genitive case or when expressing possession or association with normative concepts. It is not a separate lexical item, but a grammatical ending.

In practice, normatiivisten appears in contexts where authors discuss prescriptive standards, guidelines, or ethical and legal norms. Examples include phrases like normatiivisten sääntöjen mukaan (according to normative rules), normatiivisten suositusten perusteella (based on normative recommendations), or normatiivisten näkemysten mukaan (according to normative viewpoints). The term is common in fields such as law, philosophy, sociology, and policy analysis, where distinguishing prescriptive norms from descriptive descriptions is important.

Related concepts include normative ethics (normatiivinen etiikka), normative economics, and normative theory, all of which concern how things ought to be rather than how they are. The contrasting term deskriptiivinen (descriptive) is used for statements about what is, while normatiivinen focuses on what ought to be.

Etymology-wise, normatiivinen derives from normi (norm, standard) with the Finnish suffix -atiivinen, which forms adjectives indicating a relation to or characteristic of the root. The form normatiivisten thus signals grammatical agreement with a plural noun in the genitive case, such as sääntöjen, näkemyksen, or teorioiden.