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Local State-Society Relations in Finland

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Close Ties in European Local Governance

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Sub-National Governance ((PSSNG))

Abstract

The chapter on Finland investigates three types of networks of local state-society relations: youth councils are communicative networks, municipal councils on disability are collaborative networks and local action groups are consociational networks. Youth councils and councils on disability are focused on important policy areas, but, as practically all service in these areas are in Finland strongly regulated, their actual impact on policies is limited to small adjustments within the scope of municipal self-government. Therefore, the relevance of these advisory networks is essentially about legitimacy and about creating fora for exchange of experiences. Local action groups are stable, autonomous (within the rules) and locally relevant, but to some extent constrained by a mismatch between local needs and national priorities.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See also a simplified diagram over governmental structures in Finland in Anttiroiko and Valkama 2017: 158.

  2. 2.

    Municipalities in Finland have on average 17,700 inhabitants, although the median is as low as 6.000 (Statistics Finland, Population Structure [03.04.2019], www.stat.fi).

  3. 3.

    Attempts to reform the regional structure have been made in recent times, but the latest proposal of 18 regional self-governing areas (see Anttiroiko and Valkama 2017: 164) fell when the government resigned in March 2019. See also the government’s press release 591/2015, dated 9.11.2015: ‘Government decision on next steps in reform package on healthcare, social welfare and autonomous regions’.

  4. 4.

    Yhdistyslaki 503/89 [Finnish Associations Act, an (not legally binding) English translation]: https://www.prh.fi/en/yhdistysrekisteri/act.html].

  5. 5.

    Puoluelaki 10/1969 [Act on Political Parties, an (not legally binding) English translation]: https://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/kaannokset/1969/en19690010_19920653.pdf.

  6. 6.

    Relevant here are networks allocated in the first- or second-tier jurisdiction, which include actors from the local government, involving repeated interaction, mutual exchange and recognized representative claims (see Chap. 1). There are some more cases of local networks in Finland that might fill some of the criteria of institutionalized relations between the local state and civil society. Here are examples of networks that have been left out, as they are followed by some question marks:

    • National parks have Advisory Committees but they are a part of the national government.

    • Statutory local cooperation between the municipality as employer and the labor organizations as representatives of the employees, but these labor organizations are not considered civil society here, because cooperation concerns only employees, not citizens in general.

    • Regular meetings between the municipal and different actors (see Christensen et al. 2016: 21) do not consider recognized representative claims.

    • Patient Advisory Committees at regional hospitals are not a part of the municipal organization.

    • School Boards consist of parents, not organized representation.

  7. 7.

    Kuntalaki 410/2015 [Finnish Municipal Act, an (not legally binding) English translation]: https://www.finlex.fi/en/laki/kaannokset/2015/en20150410.pdf.

  8. 8.

    Furthermore, advisory committees can be set up also for immigrant issues or ethnic groups which occur in one-third of the municipalities (Christensen et al. 2016: 22). They follow the logic and the main features of the other advisory committee, but they are not mandatory and usually established only in municipalities with a larger share of foreign residents. The foreign population in Finland is about 7 percent of the population and fairly unevenly distributed between municipalities (data from Statistics Finland [www.stat.fi] and from the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities [localfinland.fi]).

  9. 9.

    Kuntalaki 410/2015 [the Finnish Municipal Act], §26, see also Nuorisolaki 1285/2016 [Youth Act], §24.

  10. 10.

    Amount according to Nuva, Suomen Nuorisovaltuustojen Liitto ry. [Union of Local Youth Councils in Finland], http://www.nuva.fi/nuorisovaltuustot-suomessa [25.02.2019].

  11. 11.

    The Finnish Municipal Act (410/2015, §90) prescribes every municipality to specify and stipulate how a long list of matters in the Act is implemented in the municipality. This instrument is called the Administrative Regulations [Finnish: hallintosääntö, Swedish: förvaltningsstadga]. In the case of youth councils, municipalities are by law obliged to set up a youth council or a similar group, but they are allowed to decide upon how that is made by them.

  12. 12.

    See http://www.nuva.fi/mika-nuorisovaltuusto/ [28.03.2019] [Union of Local Youth Councils in Finland: What is a youth council?].

  13. 13.

    The literature where youth councils are mentioned are concentrated on participation and effects of participation, not on how this channel of participation is organized.

  14. 14.

    Finnish Municipal Act 410/2015, § 28.

  15. 15.

    On Municipal Councils on Disability by VANE, the (national) Advisory Board for the Right of Persons with Disabilities; https://vane.to/en/municipal-councils [28.03.2019]

  16. 16.

    Laki maaseudun kehittämisohjelmien hallinnoinnista 27/2014, § 16. [Act on the Administration of Rural Development Programmes].

  17. 17.

    See https://www.leadersuomi.fi/fi/mita-on-leader/ [14.06.2019] [Leader Finland: What is Leader?].

  18. 18.

    The LAG Database counts for 55 LAGs with funding from EAFRD (of which one from the Åland Islands) and 10 with funding from EMFF (European Maritime and Fisheries Fund).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland

    Linnéa Henriksson

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  1. Linnéa Henriksson
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Research Unit on Governance Competitiveness and Public Policies Department of Social, Political and Territorial Sciences, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Filipe Teles

  2. Department of Local Development and Policy Faculty of Geography and Regional Studies, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

    Adam Gendźwiłł

  3. Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu, Sibiu, Romania

    Cristina Stănuș

  4. Institute of Political Science, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Darmstadt, Germany

    Hubert Heinelt

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Henriksson, L. (2021). Local State-Society Relations in Finland. In: Teles, F., Gendźwiłł, A., Stănuș, C., Heinelt, H. (eds) Close Ties in European Local Governance. Palgrave Studies in Sub-National Governance. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-44794-6_9

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