Is there a Nordic Approach to Questions of Democracy in Studies of Network Governance?

The notion of democratic network governance has attracted growing interest among students of local and regional governance in all the Nordic countries since the 1990s. This article examines whether research in this area reflects a particular Nordic account of democracy. The Nordic countries have str...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Local government studies 2009-11, Vol.35 (5), p.515-538
Main Authors: Hall, Patrik, Kettunen, Pekka, Löfgren, Karl, Ringholm, Toril
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Civil society
Democracy
Governance
Local government
Network governance
Networks
Nordic countries
Regional government
Regional studies
review
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The notion of democratic network governance has attracted growing interest among students of local and regional governance in all the Nordic countries since the 1990s. This article examines whether research in this area reflects a particular Nordic account of democracy. The Nordic countries have strong traditions of local autonomy, local networks and the inclusion of civil society associations. The authors find reason to expect that the Nordic traditions of local and regional governance may have stimulated a common approach to democracy questions with the features of an integrative perspective. At the same time, the differences in the history of democratisation are likely to have urged the approach in different directions. Using evidence from a literature review, the article suggests that, rather than a fully fledged theory, democracy with an intriguing potential and with nuances exists as an issue in the Nordic governance studies.
ISSN:0300-3930
1743-9388
1743-9388
DOI:10.1080/03003930903411675