Old-fashioned but Still Important? Voluntary Organisations on the Status and Role of Scandinavian Commission Process

During the last decades, great hope has been devoted to growing number of governance networks and more horizontal arenas for public policymaking to become spaces for deliberation and negotiation between voluntary organisations and the state. In a Scandinavian context one of the most traditional institutions for policymaking is the system referred to as government commissions. However, scholars claim that neo-corporatist policymaking arenas to be relatively dysfunctional to solve complex issues of modern societies and that the government commissions have come to play a far less prominent role as policymaking arena. Yet, evidence is rather sparse. If new forms of governance networks have evolved as a complement or replacement of the old ones, what is the current status and role of traditional/institutional arenas for policymaking such as the Scandinavian government commissions? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the government commissions in comparison to other network-based arenas for political participation at national government level? This article examines these questions by drawing evidence from Sweden and the perspective of voluntary organisations. Empirically, this article draws evidence from a qualitative survey of 6 000 Swedish voluntary organisations, a quantitative survey of 302 voluntary organisations participating in the commission process and in-depth interviews with 20 voluntary organisations examining their perceptions of the commission process. Preliminary analyses show that the commission process is still valued by voluntary organisations and acknowledged for its role to adduce policy knowledge and to influence the policy process. In addition, participating in the commission process legitimises the organisations and appears to have a feedback effects on the activities of voluntary organisations promoting internal deliberation. Finally, in compared to new governance arenas, the rather formalised and transparent procedure of the commission process is considered by the organisations as essential.