Governing Collaboration: Practices of Meta-Governance in Finnish and Norwegian Local Governments

Abstract

Today, local government policy making is characterised by a large number of collaborative activities. Increasingly, it is considered important to reconcile the relations between representative governing bodies and various institutions like networks, funds, partnerships and companies. In this article we enter into this discussion by utilising a framework offered in the literature on meta-governance. Then, based on empirical studies undertaken in Finland and Norway, we draw a picture of the practices of meta-governance, present the actors involved when different meta-governance tools are applied, and discuss the experiences and perceived challenges when these tools are used. Local governments in both countries are often more restricted to negotiating rather than direct steering, and apply a number of different meta-governance tools. However, according to the results of our research, these practices are still under development; often they are inadequate, energy and time consuming or problematic in the sense that democratic governance is in the hands of officials and experts rather than politicians.

Key Words:

• Network governance
• local government
• meta-governance
• Finland
• Norway