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Reforming Local Government Policymaking and Management Through Organizational Learning and Experimentation
Author(s) -
Baldersheim Harold,
Stava Per
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
policy studies journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.773
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1541-0072
pISSN - 0190-292X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1541-0072.1993.tb01457.x
Subject(s) - local government , adaptability , public administration , government (linguistics) , welfare , order (exchange) , political science , business , central government , decentralization , economic growth , economics , management , finance , linguistics , philosophy , law
This article presents two ongoing programs of local government reform in Norway, the Free Commune Program and the Pilot Commune Program. These programs are fairly typical of thinking on local government development in the Nordic countries at the moment. On the one hand, the welfare states are seen as being in danger of becoming overloaded. On the other hand, local government is seen as being in need of developing a capacity to respond better to local communities; consequently, national regulations have to become less standardized in order to allow for greater local adaptability and more variation. The emergent municipal organizational models reflect a more community‐oriented approach to local government and a deemphasis on local governments as distributive channels for central ministries. A New Nordic Welfare Model is emerging with more emphasis on local initiatives.