Poliittinen johtaminen ja kuntien vuorovaikutteinen hallinta
Avainsanat:
local political leadership, interactive governance, local governmentAbstrakti
Political leadership and interactive governance in finnish local government context
This study investigates political leadership as embodiment of interactive governance in Finnish local government context. The article focuses on how local political leadership broadens along with adapting interactive governance ideas at local level. The empirical data consists of 15 interviews of the leading local politicians. Using abductive qualitative content analysis, it is possible to identify how interaction is intertwined throughout the whole political process. This intertwining emphasizes the meaning of interactive and networked dimension of political leadership. It is arguable, that instead of sovereign decision-maker role the focus of local political leadership is shifting towards enabling and utilizing interaction strategically and for boundary-spanning activities, which relates to more interactive governance of municipality.