Localism in Finland: The changing role and current crisis of the Finnish municipal system

Abstract

The authors analyse localism as a precondition for developing local self-government in Finland. The point of departure for the analysis is autonomy at the municipal level, of particular interest are variations in autonomy between key historical periods. For a long time, in fact until the 1990s, rural localism strongly affected the development of Finnish municipal self-government. However, the analysis shows that the developments over the past 10 years represent a fundamental paradigm shift, particularly concerning localism as a value for pursuing societal reforms. Localism is largely abandoned, both as an historic legacy and as a potential resource in facing current challenges of rural and out-migration areas. The authors argue that the paradigm shift will have deep-reaching consequences for local democracy in general and for rural development in particular.