Implementing a New Level of Participatory Democracy – Democratic Innovations in Well-being Governance in Finland

This qualitative case study examines how democratic innovations were implemented at a newly established governmental level in Finland. Our theoretical foundation is participatory democracy. We illuminate who gets to participate in the Wellbeing Services County of Finnish Lapland and how. For that, we first analyze the Act on Wellbeing Services Counties from 2021 and identify the overall governance structure and the democratic innovations placed within. We then utilize document analysis to extract which mandatory and optional democratic innovations were implemented, paying special attention to member selection and the connection to the overall governance structure. The main innovations are bodies of exerting influence[HV3.1][LH3.2], which target youth, older people, and people with disabilities to participate in health and well-being governance. Their members are sent from corresponding bodies on the municipal level, implementing multi-level citizen participation. The bodies can at most take a consultative position, and they do not yet have formalized pathways to influence.