9. Local State-Society Relations in Finland

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.