The central government of Finland is planning a regional reform, which creates 18 regions in the mainland of Finland. By the reform, health care and social welfare, regional planning and development, and their financing will... [ view full abstract ]
The central government of Finland is planning a regional reform, which creates 18 regions in the mainland of Finland. By the reform, health care and social welfare, regional planning and development, and their financing will be transferred to the 18 multipurpose regions. The whole of the sub-national government will remarkably change, when a new two level, democratically steered, sub-national system will replace our traditional system based on one level of local government. This change is big for the municipalities of Finland. Some consider this development as a solution for the basic problem of the overload of services, which is eroding the legitimacy of municipalities, while some see the new and diminished role as a hollowing-out the municipality, which leads to the mere ceremonial role of municipalities with no actual power nor significance in society.
We could describe this development as a process of institutional reinvention. New government institutions are created and at the same time, the existing ones are facing major changes in their structures, competencies and processes. Remarkable institutional change opposes threats to legitimacy. Legitimacy is closely linked to power, influence and authority. To simplify: government level needs legitimacy in order to function: only legitimate level of government has the right, the power and the possibility to make decisions that affect citizens.
We need understanding on how legitimacy (both input and output) is developed in institutional shifts and how new space for actors are being produced and how the old positions are altered. We also need structured information on what kind of roles and power relationships are formed, and what kind of capacities are needed when individuals, groups and institutions look for new positions in the changing politico-administrative constellation. The issues related to the reconfigurations of power are already beginning to emerge in the local level: the simultaneous changes in the roles of municipalities, creating a new regional government level and ongoing processes where citizens design or even produce public services and create platforms for participation, challenge the traditional ways of knowing and deciding in local level. The distinctions between consumers and producers, citizens and officials as well as between administration and politics are obviously blurring, which offers space for empowerment, agency and at the same time brings more complexity to the system.
The overall aim of my study is to collect, combine and understand the experiences on construction of agency and the creation of legitimacy in different governance relations and different institutional and interactive environments. I focus on the relations positioned between citizens and the governance system, particularly in the local level government, municipalities. By enhancing understanding on the construction of agency in different institutional settings, it is possible to create new capacities and competencies to support the development of the very important relationship between citizens and local government.
My research questions are the following. What kind of possibilities for the construction of agency are available in the processes of institutional reinvention in different institutional and interactive environments? How is agency supported or rejected in these processes?
