Regional Democracy and the Redefinition of Government Committees – Comparing the Committees and Committee Models of the Finnish Wellbeing Service Counties
The purpose of this study is to analyze the government structures of the Finnish wellbeing service counties as the responsibility of rescue, social and healthcare services was transferred to the new self-governing regional level of Finnish public administration in January 2023. The theoretical framework is built on institutional theory and the article revives the academic discussion of the institutional arrangements of the Finnish municipalities, that was active in the turn of the century. By analyzing the committee structures, compositions and functions from the administrative regulations and using the concept of municipal parliamentarism as an analytical tool, the study shows that there are in fact two distinct institutional models of organizing the county governments.
