Local Governance Reform in Estonia as Political Process

This article focuses on reform discourses and their impact on shaping reform directions and immediate outcomes. In 2017, Estonia underwent extensive municipal reform that was at least the sixth attempt since the inception of the local government (KOV) system in 1993. The aim is to assess the dynamics of the reform process. We aim to better understand the role of reforms as policy processes in the context of contemporary governance. In shaping the analytical framework, we draw on the works of Dente (2014), Aalbu et al. (2008), and Brunsson (2009). Based on these, we distinguish three types of policy strategies and discourses: 1. Political Game Strategy: Focused on "getting things done" or "applying maximum resistance". 2. Instrumental Expertise Discourse: Focused on the contradictions and operational inefficiencies of the current local government system. 3. Grassroots Reform Discourse: where target groups of the reforms are included in shaping the agenda and decision-making, thereby forming their discourse. This discourse focuses on the existential dilemmas and value orientations of local government (Vanberg, 1997). In-depth interviews (16) were conducted with key participants in the reform process (politicians, local government leaders, experts). The authors of this article were themselves active participants in the reform process in various roles, enabling them to reconstruct the processes as streams of praxis and as events unfolding over time. We primarily seek to operationalize the internal structure and implementation possibilities of the developed analytical framework for reform discourses, aiming to serve as a roadmap for analyzing other reforms in young democracies with diverse governance cultures. We also seek to conceptualize the potential interactions and contradictions of the three ideal types of discourses within the internal logic of the reform itself.