Abstract
This chapter outlines the local government in Finland. Municipalities form the basic units of the political-administrative system. They have a vital role in local infrastructure, education and economic development policy. In this chapter, we describe the development of this system with a focus on major changes in the post-war decades, and on that basis, we provide a brief introduction to the current structure, main functions and inter-governmental relations of local government. This chapter will also shed light on the contextual changes reshaping local governance, as well as their consequences, which highlight the increasing importance of digitalisation, the growing differentiation between municipalities and the emergence of novel approaches to local public governance. Lastly, we will explore the future development of Finnish local government by anchoring the discussion on the emerging platform model, which aims at the smart utilisation of local potential for the benefit of all members of the local community.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Anttiroiko, A.-V., & Sahamies, K. (2022). Designing city service ecosystems: The case of the city of Espoo in the capital region of Finland. In N. A. Streitz & S. Konomi (Eds.), Distributed, ambient and pervasive interactions: Smart environments, ecosystems, and cities (HCII 2022. Lecture Notes in Computer Science) (Vol. 13325, pp. 139–157). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05463-1_10
Anttiroiko, A.-V., & Valkama, P. (2017). The role of localism in the development of regional structures in post-war Finland. Public Policy and Administration, 32(2), 152–172. https://doi.org/10.1177/0952076716658797
Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities. (2021). Kuntalaistutkimus 2020: Kuntalaisten luottamus kunnan päätöksentekoon ja päättäjiin. [Municipal Survey 2020: Local residents’ confidence in municipal decision-making and decision-makers.] https://www.kuntaliitto.fi/sites/default/files/media/file/Liitediat%2014.4.2021%20tiedotteeseen_Luottamus%20p%C3%A4%C3%A4t%C3%B6ksentekoon.pdf
Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities. (2022). Isot reformit ja kuntatalous: Sote lähtee ja työllisyyden hoito tulee – Mitä kunnassa tulee tietää uudistusten kynnyksellä? [Large-scale reforms and local government finances: Social and healthcare services are leaving and employment services are coming – What should the municipality know about on the eve of reforms?] https://www.kuntaliitto.fi/julkaisut/2022/2141-isot-reformit-ja-kuntatalous
Baldersheim, H. (2003). Local government reforms in the Nordic countries: Bringing politics back in? In N. Kersting & A. Vetter (Eds.), Reforming local government in Europe: Closing the gap between efficiency and democracy (pp. 29–38). VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-663-11258-7_2
Cohen, M. A., Ruble, B. A., Tulchin, J. S., Garland, A. M., & (Eds.). (1996). Preparing for the urban future: Global pressures and local forces. Woodrow Wilson Centre Press; Johns Hopkins University Press.
Digital and Population Data Services Agency. (2019, September 23). Municipalities and local government. Suomi.fi. Retrieved May 27, 2022, from https://www.suomi.fi/citizen/rights-and- obligations/fundamental-rights-and-civic-activity/guide/how-finlands-public-administration- works/municipalities-and-local-government
European Commission. (2022). The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI): Shaping Europe’s digital future. https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/desi
Haveri, A. (2009). Finnish local autonomy: A foundation for democracy and efficiency. In J. Mylly (Ed.), Challenges for Finland and democracy (pp. 122–149). Edita.
Haveri, A. (2015). Nordic local government: A success story, but will it last? International Journal of Public Sector Management, 28(2), 136–149.
Haveri, A., & Anttiroiko, A.-V. (2021). Urban platforms as a mode of governance. International Review of Administrative Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1177/00208523211005855
Haveri, A., Airaksinen, J., & Jäntti, A. (2015). The Kainuu regional experiment: Deliberate and unintended effects of scaling local government tasks to the regional level. Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration, 19(4), 29–47.
Haveri, A., Paananen, H., & Airaksinen, J. (2018). Narratives on complexity: Interpretations on local government leadership change. Administrative Culture, 19(1), 37–53.
Katz, B., & Bradley, J. (2013). The Metropolitan Revolution: How cities and metros are fixing our broken politics and fragile economy. Brookings Institution Press.
Katz, B., & Nowak, J. (2017). The new localism: How cities can thrive in the age of populism. Brookings Institution Press.
Kinder, T., Six, F., Stenvall, J., & Memon, A. (2020). Governance-as-legitimacy: Are ecosystems replacing networks? Public Management Review. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2020.1786149
Kresl, P. K., & Fry, E. H. (2005). The urban response to internationalization. Edward Elgar.
Kuhlmann, S., Wayenberg, E., Bergström, T., & Franzke, J. (2021). The essence and transformation of local self-government in Western Europe. In T. Bergström, J. Franzke, S. Kuhlmann, & E. Wayenberg (Eds.), The future of local self-government (pp. 1–14). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56059-1_1
Local Government Act 410/2015. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/kaannokset/2015/en20150410.pdf
Magnussen, J., Vrangbaek, K., & Saltman, R. B. (2010). Nordic health care systems: Recent reforms and current policy challenges. Open University Press.
Ministry of Finance. (n.d.). Local government’s duties and activities. https://vm.fi/en/local-government-s-duties-and-activities
Randall, L., & Berlina, A. (2019). Governing the digital transition in Nordic regions: The human element (Nordregio Report No. 2019:4). Nordregio. http://norden.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1295022/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Sahamies, K., Haveri, A., & Anttiroiko, A.-V. (2022). Local governance platforms: Roles and relations of city governments, citizens, and businesses. Administration and Society, 54(9), 1710–1735. https://doi.org/10.1177/00953997211072531
Sjöblom, S. (2011). Finland: The limits of the unitary decentralized model. In J. Loughlin, F. Hendriks, & A. Lidström (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of local and regional democracy in Europe (pp. 241–260). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199562978.003.0011
Statistics Finland. (2021, June 19). Municipal elections 2021, result of the control calculation. https://www.stat.fi/til/kvaa/2021/03/kvaa_2021_03_2021-06-22_tie_001_en.html
Statistics Finland. (2022). Statistics from PX-Web Statfin database. https://pxweb2.stat.fi/PxWeb/pxweb/fi/StatFin/
Sturzaker, J., & Nurse, A. (2021). Rescaling urban governance: Planning, localism and institutional change. Policy Press.
United Nations. (2022). Country data [UN e-government knowledgebase]. https://publicadministration.un.org/egovkb/Data-Center
Vakkala, H., Sinervo, L.-M., & Jäntti, A. (2021). Local self-government in Finland. In B. Brezovnik, I. Hoffman, & J. Kostrubiec (Eds.), Local self-government in Europe (pp. 173–205). Institute for Local Self-Government Maribor. https://doi.org/10.4335/978-961-7124-00-2
Valkama, P., & Oulasvirta, L. (2021). How Finland copes with an ageing population: Adjusting structures and equalising the financial capabilities of local governments. Local Government Studies, 47(3), 429–452. https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2021.1877664
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Sahamies, K., Haveri, A., Anttiroiko, AV. (2023). Local Government: Contours of the Past, Present and Future. In: Pekkola, E., Johanson, JE., Mykkänen, M. (eds) Finnish Public Administration. Governance and Public Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34862-4_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34862-4_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-34861-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-34862-4
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)