On the Crossroads: The Developing Roles of Municipal Councils in Finland and Poland

During the last four decades European local governments have undergone significant transformation. Firstly, at the turn of the 1970s and the 1980s in many states the approach to public administration shifted from the traditional, i.e., Weberian, idea of bureaucracy to New Public Management (NPM) (Pollitt, Bouckaert 2011). Secondly, in the 1990s in many countries the change of the traditional governing process into governance-like decision-making was observed (John 2001; Hambleton 2003). Thirdly, again in the 1990s, some countries, inter alia Italy, Slovakia decided to introduce leadership reforms that quite often drove towards the replacement of collegiate executive by directly elected mayors. Fourthly, financial austerity forced a significant number of countries to implement structural-functional reforms. Some states have acted to reduce the number of municipalities (the Netherlands, Denmark, Finland), whereas others have opted to change the scope of the powers of local governments (England). Finally, a general decline in interest in local politics can be witnessed. Nevertheless, at the same time in many states citizens take matters in their own hands and try to be involved more directly in the governing process. Undoubtedly, the afore-mentioned trends have had a significant impact on local representation. The main aim of the paper is to examine the tensions and pressure experienced by municipal councils in two European states – Finland and Poland. The paper refers to neoinstitutional theory and is based on empirical research conducted under the umbrella of two research projects funded by the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (Project Mobility Plus) and the National Science Centre Poland (2013/09/B/HS5/04403). The data were collected in the municipalities of two regions – Pirkanmaa in Finland and Lubelskie in Poland in 2015 and 2016. In Finland, the research was implemented in cooperation with scholars from the School of Management, University of Tampere. In both countries the data were collected in two stages. First, the survey among municipal councillors was distributed; second, interviews with selected local representatives were conducted. The preliminary results of the research indicate that although both countries belong to a different local government model and, in consequence, were shaped by the above described trends and reforms to a varying extent, their municipal councils experience similar pressure for change and development. In the case of Finland, network governing and the necessity of cooperation in service delivery with many actors and stakeholders play the key factor. Thus, in many municipalities, especially the smaller ones, the councils’ say is limited and as a result the bodies have been transformed into “rubber-stamp councils”. With regard to Poland, 2002 saw the introduction of directly elected mayors, which had the major impact on the roles played by municipal councils. Not only did it limit the councils’ decision-making power, but it reduced their leadership as well. Therefore, it can be said that in both countries the basic roles of councils – representative, decision-making and administrative – are being diminished. Nevertheless, there is a possibility of developing new roles such as the helmsman (Finland) or facilitator (Poland) of the governing process.