Euroopan komissio luotiin jotta se voisi ajaa yhteisöjen intressiä. Sen vuoksi siitä päätettiin tehdä itsenäinen. Mutta koska Euroopan Unionin vaikutus jäsenmaissaan on hyvin vahvaa, myös talouden kannalta, haluavat jäsenmaat vaikuttaa komissioon mahdollisimman paljon. Tämän vuoksi komission itsenäisyys vaarantuu. Perustamissopimukset koettavat hoitaa ongelman luomalla komissiolle joita-kin suojamekanismeja. Mutta ovatko ne riittäviä? Vaikuttaa siltä, että komissioon pystytään vaikuttamaan liikaa sen jokapäiväisessä työssä. Tämä vaikuttaminen alkaa jo komission nimittämisvaiheessa ja jatkuu koko ajan komission pohtiessa uuden lainsäädännön tarvetta ja komission valmistellessa uutta lainsäädäntöä. Komission lakiehdotelman sisältöön vaikuttavat usein paljonkin muut instituutiot, jäsenvaltiot sekä intressiryhmät. Tämä johtaa siihen, että komissio ei täysin pysty toteuttamaan yhteisöjen in-tressiä. Monin eri tavoin komission päätöksiin voivat vaikuttaa yksittäisten tai use-ampien jäsenmaiden edut, vaikka tarkoitus olisi ajaa yhteisöjen etua. The European Commission was created so that it could work to fulfil the Community Interest. Therefore it was decided to be an independent institution. But because the European Union affects its Member States very deeply, not least in budgetary ways, the Member States seem to want to influence the Commission as much as possible. Therefore the independence of the Commission is at stake. The Treaties try to deal with the problem by setting some protective mecha-nisms on the Commission. But is it enough? It seems that the Commission gets in-fluenced too much in its everyday work. This influencing starts already at the nomi-nation of the Commissioners, continues all the while when the Commission is decid-ing if new Community legislation is needed and while it drafts new legislation. The substance of the drafts are often influenced very much by the other institutions, Member States and interest groups. What this means is that the Commission can't fulfil its task at seeking the best of the Communities. In many different ways the decisions of the Commission may further the good of one or some interested parties instead of the Community In-terest.
This collection deals with cultural studies in the humanities and the methods it uses. Its authors include scholars of ethnology, anthropology, folkloristics, digital culture research, and study of religions. Its chapters address topics of discussion and debate in humanistic culture research and indicate what tools are currently being used to study cultural phenomena. Various phases of the research process are covered, including epistemology, research ethics, techniques of data collection and analysis, the writing process of research plans, and the process of writing up the analysis. The book's authors contribute to our knowledge of changes in research paradigms and agendas, scientific philosophies, ethnographic fieldwork, different modes of writing, materiality, reflexivity, observation, researchers' use of the five senses, digital research, audiovisual techniques of observation, and selected textual methodologies. The book is intended as a textbook and methods guide for students in the fields of cultural research, for postdoctoral researchers, and for more senior researchers.
In this thesis, I critically interrogate power relations that underlie practices, techniques and rationalities of contemporary forms of governance represented by the governing strategy of structural adjustment framework devised by the Bretton Woods institutions— especially the IMF and the World Bank. Far from being a technique of coercion and domination, the thesis demonstrates that structural adjustment framework represents a differing modality of global power that attempts to discursively legitimise external interventions through the imposition of neoliberal economic agenda. I show that structural adjustment policies are carefully constructed neoliberal rationalities of governing through which donors seek to transform the government of Ghana into a self-disciplined neoliberal subject that must behave in an appropriately competitive fashion that is congruent with the ethos of market rationality. I draw on Michel Foucault's nuanced conceptualisation of governmentality, a form of productive and relational power working through individuals' subjectivities particularly as it coexists with the disciplinary rationale of power, and extend it to the relation between the IMF and the World Bank and the government of Ghana. I analyse how these interactions are embedded within a discursive formation and concrete practices which establish certain views of 'a problem' and mobilise particular authoritative actors, techniques and forms of truth as solutions. I also explore how over the decades the IMF and the World Bank through the modalities of conditionality associated with structural adjustment have sought to govern, remake and regulate the economic, political and social institutions of recipient States. In closing, and by way of illustration, I also examine 'non-compliance' as one possibility into what Foucault has termed 'counter-conduct' through which subjects undermine and challenge governmental forms of power. This being said, within the structural adjustment discourse, there remains, I would be inclined to argue, repressive and dominant forms of power. This thesis, contributes to the contemporary scholarship on governmentality to deepen and re-evaluate the distinctiveness of power relations in the example of the IMF and the World Bank adjustment programmes in Ghana.
Local educational stakeholders have a central role in organizing districtlevel curriculum development in Finland. Earlier research has shown that the implementation strategy affects the effectiveness of the reform. In Finland, an interactive topdownbottomup strategy requires local implementers to organize and manage districtlevel curriculum work. The aim of this study is to gain a better understanding of the local curriculum process as experienced by the districtlevel stakeholders. Survey data (N = 550) were analyzed using mixed methods. The results showed that the topdownbottomup implementation strategy, including change management and knowledge sharing, was related to the perceived success of the reform. In addition, perceptions about the implementation strategy were related to the various ways of organizing the local curriculum process. Teachers' professional development and engagement in the process, facilitation of participation, management of the process and coherence making were identified as the key factors in the curriculum process by the stakeholders. ; Peer reviewed
Finnish local government has been subjected to many reforms in the last few decades. The reforms will continue in the near future as health, social services and regional government are being reformed. Structural reforms and numerous projects have not altered the fact that concrete procedures still change slowly in local governments. This article deals with reforms in local government. It focuses on determining the kind of information and expertise used in the reforms and the expertise required. The research is empirical and focuses on one particular case: preparation of the multi-municipal merger of Oulu region. Research on reforms of local governments, studied from the viewpoints of information and expertise, reveals that traditional public administration structures still have an impact on reform work. Even though steps towards New Public Governance procedures have been taken, reform processes remain strongly based on the information and expertise of the local government organization. Cooperation with different sector actors (the private and third sectors, universities, citizens) takes place from the viewpoint of the local government. The expertise of stakeholders is not at the core of reform processes. Reform processes are based mainly on the existing information and practices. There is much less innovation and less creation and application of new information. The expertise needed in local government reform is diverse. The reform processes have great need for the skills that are typical of network and generative leadership. A successful reform results from the work of a couple of key actors who have the skills to create frameworks for the existence and exploitation of collective expertise.
Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on vallankäytön luonteen ja sen ilmenemisen tulkinta ja ymmärtäminen ammattikorkeakoulujen vakinaistamis- ja laajentumisprosessissa vuosina 1995-2000. Tutkimus jakautuu kahteen pääosaan: teoreettiseen ja tapausesimerkkinä toteutettavaan empiiriseen osaan. Työn lähtökohtana on teoreettisen viitekehyksen kautta jäsentää, tulkita ja ymmärtää tutkimuskohteena olevaa ilmiötä eli vakinaistamis- ja laajentumisprosessiin liittynyttä vallankäyttöä. Työn metodinen painopiste lähenee teoriaperusteista analyysia ja arviointia. Tiivistäen ilmaistuna teoria saa työssä tulkintavälineen aseman. Tavoitteena on teorian ja sen pohjalta luodun viitekehyksen ja aineiston välinen dialogimainen vuoropuhelu, jota täydennetään eri tutkijoiden esittämillä näkemyksillä. Työn dokumenttiaineisto painottuu kirjoitetussa muodossa olevaan, aitoon ja alkuperäiseen sekä selkeästi rajattuun tekstikorpukseen, jolle annettiin ja jolle muodostui keskeinen asema korkeakoulupoliittisia ratkaisuja tehtäessä. Työn tulkintaprosessin myötä voidaan päätyä mm. toteamaan, että valta ei paikantunut tai sijoittunut ammattikorkeakoululaitoksen luomisen prosessin osalta ainoastaan valtakunnan tason toimijoille ja päätöksentekijöille eli suunta ei ole yksinomaan ylhäältä alhaalle. Kokonaisuuden onnistuminen ja toimivuuden turvaaminen jäivät ja jäävät pitkälti anojien eli paikallistason vastuulle. Vaihtoon liittyvää ulottuvuutta ja vuorovaikutusta tarvitaan prosessin jatkokehittämisen onnistumiseksi. Tarkasteltavassa prosessitodellisuudessa ilman paikallistason työpanosta ja muutoksen syvällisyyttä ja hallintaa - nimenomaan ammatillisen korkeakoulutuksen näkökulmasta - todellinen muutos jää puutteelliseksi. Viitekehyksen keskeisimmät ulottuvuudet nousevat selkeästi esille empiirisen aineiston tulkinnan myötä; vallankäyttö prosessitodellisuuden eri toimijatasojen menettelyjen osalta liikkui nollasummapeli - positiv-summekonflikt -ulottuvuudella, kuten myös mahdollistamisen ja antienergisoinnin ja toimintaa hankaloittavien ratkaisujen puitteissa. Vallankäyttö seurauksineen liikkui ylivallan ja yhteistoiminnallisen vallan kentissä. Valta kapasiteettina ja kykynä tulkita sekä omaa että toisten todellisuutta sekä kokonaisuuden hallintana - jopa edellä mainittujen ulottuvuuksien puutteenakin - saa keskeisen sisällön tarkasteltavan tapausesimerkin puitteissa. Vallan suhdeperusteinen ja muuttuva luonne tulee selvästi esille. Vallankäyttö näkyy selkeästi konkreettisessa toiminnassa paikallisella, alueellisella ja valtakunnallisella toimijatasolla. Kun tilannetta tarkastellaan työn viitekehyksestä käsin, paljastuu valtakäsitteen hyödyntämisen ja tulkinnan jääneen prosessin kuluessa osittain rajautuneeksi. Työn pohjalta voi tulkita vallankäytön heijastusvaikutusten ja mahdollistamisulottuvuuden pohdinnan jääneen osittain keskeneräiseksi. Tehtyjen ratkaisujen ja valittujen periaatteiden seurauksena vallankäyttöön olennaisesti liittyvä kokonaisuuden hallinta ja kyky taata muutoksen syvällisyys eivät olleet ongelmattomia. Kaiken kaikkiaan kyse on työn otsikon mukaisesti vallankäytön oppimisesta. Samalla paljastuu vallankäytön haasteellisuus korkeakoulupolitiikkaa laajemminkin hallinnon kannalta. Valtaan liittyvän todellisuuden tulkinta laajentaa prosessin ymmärtämistä. Samalla paljastuu viitekehyksen laajempi sovellettavuus ja tutkimuksen käyttökelpoisuus sekä vallan suhdeperusteinen ja muuttuva luonne. Perehtyminen työ viitekehykseen ja sen pohjalta tehtyyn empiiriseen tarkasteluun voi edistää muutosta ja sen hallittavuutta. Työ viitekehyksenä oleva mallikombinaatio, synteesi mahdollistaa suoraa vallan harjoittamista laajemman prosessinäkökulman ja auttaa ymmärtämään laaja-alaisemmin organisationaaliseen vallankäyttöön liittyvän toiminnan seurauksia. Siten käytetty malli monipuolistaa vallan tulkintaa. ; The purpose of this study is to interpret and understand the nature and presence of the use of power in polytechnics during the years 1995 - 2000 when they were both being made permanent and undergoing expansion. The study is divided into two main parts: the theoretical and the empirical case study. The use of power within the process examined is interpreted through the theoretical part. Put concisely the theory becomes an interpretative tool in this study. The study concerns itself with two principle levels, the national and the provincial / local: the relationship between and within these two is analysed and interpreted from the viewpoint of the use of power. The basic arrangement of the study is to consider the use of power through and with the help of the two earlier mentioned levels. The workings of the evaluation board of the polytechnics and its licensing section (initially a separate working group), government, parliament, the commission of education and culture, and the ministry of education form the national level of the empirical part of the study. These bodies can be broadly divided into two working groups: the political decision makers, and the specialists. The second level is made up of local and provincial questions of power, resources and dependency. North Savo Polytechnic and Pirkanmaa Polytechnic, both of which could not get permanent official status immediately on first application, have been chosen as examples of the local level. During the period studied North Savo Polytechnic applied for permanent status three times and made one application to broaden the mandate sought. Thus the process reality and entirety and its power dimensions and its changes can be seen. After these submissions the process continued in North Savo provisionally or as education based on agreement making certain units permanent. Pirkanmaa Polytechnic was assessed at the start of the process and again at the end of it when it got provisional approval for making the school permanent. Thus in the time period studied we can examine two different cases as examples within the local process. The study covers issues on both micro and macro levels. The central theme is to look at the process and its content dimension in its entirety. The views of both local and national influencers have been included to make the research more substantive. The use of power as part of process reality is modelled with the aid of two intersecting lines. At the ends of the horizontal line there are the power dimensions of authoritarian (power over) and co-operative (power with). The vertical line describes energy and anti-energy power dimensions; empowerment and action that hinders or even blocks it. Thus we have a four-field model that describes power dimensions in the building process and serves as a technical tool for the study and its theoretical framework. The starting point of the study is that "power moves" as a result of actions in the aforementioned four-field model even during the same process reality, and then the use of power takes different forms and has different consequences. The positions of the power wielders and power targets vary during social interaction and action. Power as a phenomenon manifests itself in varying non-static process relationships and a conclusion as a nil sum game or open conflict is not enough to keep the process developing positively. They are counterbalanced by reciprocal exchange relationships and the positive sum conflict dimension. The interpretation of process reality, securing a change, and management of the entirety become central. The starting point of the study is, through the above-mentioned theoretical framework, to analyse, interpret and understand the phenomenon studied, i.e. the use of power in the process of awarding permanent status and broadening a mandate already received. The methodological emphasis comes close to theory based analyses and evaluation. The aim is a dialogue between on one hand the theory and the framework it's based on and on the other hand the data. This dialogue is then completed with views from various researchers. The documentary data consists mainly of written original, genuine and clearly defined bodies of text which were submitted and which formed a central part in the making of political decisions in the polytechnic field. Through the interpretation process of the study it can be stated that as regards the creation of the polytechnics that power was not only located at the level of national decision makers i.e. the direction is not only from the top to the bottom. Successful implementation and feasibility were and still are the contributory responsibility of the local level applicants. Interaction and reciprocity exchange are needed to make further development successful. Real change in the process reality will be incomplete if local level work input, management and depth of the change - especially from the viewpoint of the polytechnics - are not taken into consideration. The most central dimensions of the framework are brought out with the interpretation of the empirical data; the use of power in the differing action levels of the process reality was moving in the nil sum game - positive sum conflict dimension, as also in the facilitating / empowering and anti-energising / solution retardation dimension. The use of power with its results was moving in the fields of authoritarian (power over) and co-operative (power with). Power as capacity and as ability to interpret one's own and others´ reality and also as management of the entirety - even lacking of all the before mentioned dimensions - receives a central role in the case study examined. The changing and relationship based nature of power is brought out. The use of power can be seen clearly in the tangible actions at the local, provincial and national levels. When the situation is looked at from the framework of the study it can be seen that the utilisation and interpretation of the concept of power has remained partly limited in the course of the process or that the decision makers have not thought about it from the viewpoint of the framework. On the basis of the study it can be interpreted that the study of the reflex effects and facilitating / empowering dimension of the use of power has remained somewhat incomplete or that at least the knock on effects have not been studied in all aspects. As a result of the decisions made and the principles chosen the management of the entirety and the ability to secure the depth of the change that essentially go together with the use of power were not problem free. All in all it is about, in accordance with the title of the study, learning to use power. At the same time the challenging nature of the use of power in administration other than in the polytechnics is revealed.
Nurses have been recruited to Finland from the Philippines since 2008. Although the numbers are relatively low, the phenomenon is new and has thus given rise to a manifold societal debate. It has been questioned, whether the international recruitment of nurses is an ethically and economically sustainable solution to the shortage of nursing staff in Finland. This publication serves as a forum where various agents in the international recruitment processes can get their voice to be heard. A multi-perspective approach is used to enable researchers to provide a fair, equivalent and empirically-validated illustration of the causes and consequences of international recruitment processes. - Suomeen on rekrytoitu vuodesta 2008 lähtien sairaanhoitajia Filippiineiltä. Määrät eivät ole suuria, mutta koska ilmiö on suhteellisen uusi, toiminta on herättänyt vilkasta yhteiskunnallista keskustelua puolesta ja vastaan. Kriittisissä puheenvuoroissa on kyseenalaistettu paitsi toiminnan eettisyys myös taloudellinen kannattavuus. Tässä julkaisussa filippiiniläishoitajien rekrytointia tarkastellaan kansainvälisen rekrytointiprosessin eri osapuolten näkökulmista. Erilaisten näkökulmien yhdistämisellä pyritään muodostamaan mahdollisimman tasapuolinen, tutkimustietoon perustuva kokonaiskuva kansainvälisen rekrytoinnin syistä ja seurauksista.
Kansalaisosallistuminen YVA-menettelyssä Ympäristövaikutusten arviointimenettelyn (YVA) yksi keskeinen tavoite on lisätä kansalaisten tiedonsaantia ja osallistumista ympäristövaikutuksiltaan merkittävissä hankkeissa. YVA-menettelyllä pyritään tuomaan kansalaisten näkemykset, huolet ja toiveet mukaan suunnitteluun ja päätöksentekoon mahdollisimman varhaisessa vaiheessa. YVA edustaa väitöstutkimuksessa modernia vuorovaikutteista ympäristöpolitiikan ohjauskeinoa ja osallistumisen välinettä. Väitöstyön ensimmäisenä tutkimustehtävänä oli luoda YVAan osallistumisen analyysille teoreettinen viitekehys: millaista demokratia- ja suunnitteluideaa YVA voi edustaa ja millainen politiikkaverkosto YVA on kansalaisosallistumisen kannalta. Toisena tutkimustehtävänä analysoitiin YVAan osallistumisen historiallista kehittymistä ja muutoksia Suomessa. Kolmantena tutkimustehtävänä tarkasteltiin osallistumisen käytännön toteutusta sekä arvioitiin osallistumisen vaikuttavuutta. Lisäksi analysoitiin vaikuttavuuden mahdollisia esteitä, miten läpinäkyviä ja avoimia YVA-menettelyt ovat ja miten hyväksyttävänä osallistumisvälineenä YVAa pidetään. Osallistumisen kannalta olennainen seikka on YVAn institutionaalisuus: se on julkishallinnon luoma väline, jonka lisäksi toimenharjoittajalla on keskeinen YVA-menettelyn käytännön toteuttajan rooli. Tämä luo osallistumisen kannalta rakenteita, joissa korostuu toimijoiden väliset epäsymmetriset valta-asemat. YVA-menettelystä tulee helposti kaikille osapuolille vallan käytön ja politiikan tekemisen väline ja niin osallistumisen järjestämistä kuin itse osallistumista ohjaavat toimijoiden poliittiset intressit ja tavoitteet. YVA on parhaimmillaan eri osapuolten välinen avoin keskusteluareena, joka lisää suunnittelun ja päätöksenteon läpinäkyvyyttä, mutta YVA on myös poliittisen kamppailun areena. Suomen YVA-lainsäädännössä osallistumisella on aina ollut tärkeä rooli. Suomalaisessa YVA-järjestelmässä on korostettu kansalaisten osallistumismahdollisuuksia. Ajan saatossa myös kriittisyys laajaa osallistumisoikeutta ja useita osallistumismahdollisuuksia kohtaan on lieventynyt. Haaste on kuitenkin siinä, että osallistumisen toteutus määritellään laissa väljästi, eikä lainsäädäntö takaa laadukasta osallistumista tai varsinkaan sen vaikuttavuutta. Toinen havaittu haaste on YVAn ja osallistumisen suhde päätöksentekoon. YVAn ulkopuoliset päätöksentekojärjestelmät ja edustuksellisen vallankäytön rakenteet eivät ole muuttuneet, ja siksi YVAn vaikuttavuus voi jäädä vähäiseksi. Vaikka YVA edustaisikin osallistuvaa demokratiaa ja toteuttaisi vuorovaikutteista ja moniäänistä suunnittelua, voi osallistumisen merkitys vesittyä ja kansalaisten osallistumisaktiivisuus hiipua. Ilmiöön liittyy myös tarpeetonta kriittisyyttä. Osallistumisen vaikuttavuus ei ole kertaluonteista, vaan se on usein välillistä ja ajoittuu prosessin eri vaiheisiin. Osallistumisen merkitystä ja vaikutuksia ei aina tunnisteta. YVAsta ei ole muodostunut Suomessa laajojen joukkojen osallistumisvälinettä. Ennemminkin YVAan osallistuvat tyypillisesti harvat kansalaisaktiivit, jotka hyödyntävät YVAn lisäksi lukuisia muitakin osallistumisen ja vaikuttamisen keinoja. Osallistujien määrän sijaan huomio tulee kuitenkin kiinnittää sisältöön ja suunnittelun moniäänisyyteen. Olennainen kysymys on se, millaisen roolin kansalaiset ja maallikkoasiantuntijuus voivat saada perinteisesti asiantuntijavetoisessa suunnittelukulttuurissa. ; Public participation in environmental impact assessment Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is a policy instrument based in law and used to prevent harmful environmental impacts, increase public information access, and improve public participation opportunities. EIA is an open process for discussion and participation of different actors: it increases the transparency and broadens the information base of environmental policy planning and decision making. One aim of EIA is to incorporate citizens views and opinions, concerns and desires into planning at an early stage. EIA is a process of identifying and evaluating potential impacts from proposed activities. It is also an interactive and communicative policy instrument and should facilitate direct participation. EIA is an example in the development process of direct participation in Finland during 1990 s. In this study EIA is approached as a participation instrument. Public participation is the perspective from which the EIA-process is analysed. The aim of the research is to examine participation in EIA both a theoretical and empirical way, and to interpret and explain the operation logic and efficacy of participation. There are three main research tasks in the study. The first task is to create a theoretical framework for analysis of public participation in EIA. For this purpose, the theoretical and methodological triangulation is made in the study. There are four main parts in the triangulation. Firstly, the elements of participative and deliberative democracy and communicative planning theories are combined. This theoretical discussion shows what kind of democracy and planning EIA can represents. Secondly, network analysis and evaluation are integrated in the methodological triangulation. The concepts of policy networks and intervention theory are used in theoretical and methodological manner. The outcomes of theoretical and methodological triangulation are criteria of deliberative EIA and four policy network models of EIA as an instrument of public participation: 1) EIA as a negotiation process; 2) EIA as a technical process of information collection, 3) EIA as an information instrument; and 4) EIA as tool for controlling of participation. While the theoretical part of the thesis has its own analytical objectives, these policy network models are utilized with evaluation criteria in the empirical part of the study. The second research task is to analyse the historical development of participation in Finnish EIA legislation. The focus of this part is on the long lasting political process and arguments behind the enacting of Finnish EIA Act in 1980 s and 1990 s. The most important amendments of EIA legislation and the international and national reasons behind them are also considered. According to results of this part of thesis, the role of participation has been central to the Finnish EIA system. Even if the EIA Act was implemented in Finland relatively late in 1994, the legislative foundation for public participation has always been strong. Though the implementation of participation is defined in a flexible way, Finnish EIA legislation supports public participation and in principle creates possibilities for deliberative democracy. The third research task is to evaluate public participation in two case studies. This part includes following questions: 1) what kind of objectives do different actors seek from participation; 2) how does participation impact EIA and what are the obstacles of effective participation; and 3) how transparent and acceptable is the EIA process? The two cases used, the EIA of a road project and the final disposal of nuclear waste, show how much the aims, the implementation and the effectiveness of public participation can not only vary between different projects, but also during the planning process in one certain project. Notably, in the nuclear waste case, the nature of top-down instrument of EIA was clearly observed, while the developer of the project assumed a dominant role. The three elements of policy network (actors, arenas and agenda) were defined by the developer. Even if participation was carried out with great visibility, professional implementation and sufficient resources, the impact of public participation and lay people expertise was not so essential, while the economic and political interests of the project and the role of experts were in central role. In this case study EIA represents the policy network model of controlling of participation: the role of governance was more important than deliberative participation. In the road case the planning situation was more open. There did not seem to be the same need to define and control participation and the agenda of the EIA. The contribution of citizens was used in planning in a more effective manner. The EIA assumed a more traditional role as an information distribution tool, and as a place for open discussion and effective participation. The case studies suggest that the legislative base can not alone guarantee the effectiveness of public participation. Most important factor is the attitude of main actors. Each EIA process is unique and general theories of participation in EIA are difficult to create. In practice, the EIA is more or less an institutional process of power division between different actors, and the developer has the central role. EIA is an open arena that allows political disagreements to form and emerge into the open. However, EIA can also be used to promote political interests. EIA and participation can be harnessed by the proponent, but EIA can also feed the so called NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) phenomenon. It is also possible, that policy instruments like EIA create a new elite active lay experts. Theoretical ideas of deliberative democracy or communicative planning are challenging to implement in practice. At the same time it is important to estimate the criteria and expectations concerning participation. One can see, that EIA has lot of deliberative potential, but the main challenges are in the relationship between EIA and decision making, and in the structures of political power and decision making outside of EIA.
Hallinnon uudistaminen liian yksiäänistä ja kaavamaista Jenni Airaksisen väitöskirja Hankala hallintouudistus kohdistuu suomalaisen kunnallishallinnon uudistamiseen. Tutkimus osoittaa, että kaavamaisuuteen ja liialliseen konsensukseen perustuva uudistaminen voi pahimmillaan johtaa toiminnan taantumiseen tai jopa estää muutoksia. Poliittis-hallinnollisella eliitillä on pyrkimys ylläpitää sisäistä kiinteyttään ja tämä estää erilaisten näkökulmien esiintulon uudistamiskeskustelussa. Tämä puolestaan johtaa yksiääniseen uudistamiseen ja liialliseen konsensukseen. Tutkimuksen perusteella uudistuksissa mukana olevilla ihmisillä oli hyvin erilaisia käsityksiä uudistuksen tavoitteesta ja tehtävästä. Nämä käsitykset olivat keskenään osin voimakkaassakin ristiriidassa. Hallintouudistus tulkittiin kuntien haasteiden kannalta oikeanlaisena ja tarpeellisena toimintana, mutta samaan aikaan sen pelättiin johtavan kuntien päätösvallan ja itsenäisyyden menettämiseen. Ristiriitaiset käsitykset eivät kuitenkaan nousseet keskusteluun vaan uudistuksen läpikäyväksi teemaksi nousi konfliktien välttäminen ja konsensuksen tavoittelu, mikä käytännössä johti siihen, että uudistuksen tavoitteet jäivät saavuttamatta. Vaikeiden asioiden välttely johti siihen, että käytännön uudistaminen osoittautui liian hankalaksi. Yksiäänisyyteen pyrkivän ja kaavamaisen uudistamisen mahdollisuudet saada aikaan muutoksia ovat hyvin rajalliset. Rajallisuus korostuu entisestään, mikäli päätöksenteossa pyritään erilaisten mielipiteiden peittämiseen ja uudistusta eteenpäin vievien eliittiryhmien kiinteyden ylläpitämiseen. Hallinnon uudistamisessa tarvitaan uusia ja luovia tapoja ratkaista ongelmia. Uudet ratkaisut voivat kuitenkin syntyä vain, jos uudistamisessa kyetään luopumaan yhden yhteisen päämäärän ja sen tavoittelun ihanteesta ja hyväksytään uudistamiseen liittyvä moniäänisyys. Hallinnon uudistamista tulisi tutkimuksen mukaan tarkastella prosessina, jossa erilaisten tulkintojen ja preferenssien kamppailu on normaalia toimintaa. Tällainen lähestymistapa voidaan suomalaisessa kompromissi- ja konsensushakuisessa kulttuurissa kokea vaikeaksi, mutta mikäli hallinnon uudistamisessa toimivat ryhmät jättävät vaikeat asiat pois agendaltaan konsensustavoitteen nimissä, päädytään hallinnon uudistamisessa helposti hankalaan hallinnon uudistamiseen. HANKALA HALLINNON UUDISTAMINEN näkyy pienten askeleiden kautta tapahtuvina, kompromissiratkaisuista kehittyneinä, pirstaleisina hallinnon uudistamisen osahankkeina, joiden kautta voidaan muutosten toteuttamisen sijaan ylläpitää olemassaolevia rakenteita ja vältellä muutosta. ; Troublesome Nature of Administrative Reform The topic of my research is an administrative reform which is studied as a dynamic and contextualised phenomenon. The aim was to understand the nature and the essence of an administrative reform in the context of local government in Finland. The Regional Support Project (Seutukuntien tuki -hanke) was chosen as an empirical example of a reform in this study. The project was launched by the national government in 2000 as a response to the transition process of local governance of Finland. In this context the municipalities were trying to solve the contradiction of their diminishing resources and increasing demands by increasing voluntary cooperation in service provision and regional development. The aim of the project was to promote inter-municipal cooperation by means of state support and permissive legislation. The empirical data is qualitative and the method of analysis is based on grounded theory. The purpose of the method is to produce a practical theory derived from the experiences of those people who have lived through the administrative reform. The process of analysis was to define emerging concepts and make continuous comparisons to the empirical data and to other conceptual innovations. By linking the discovered concepts to each other, the patterns of social behavior and meaning of action were generated. The empirical data of the study was collected during 2000 2005. The primary data consists of 154 interviews and approximately 60 pages of observation material. The data was collected in the national level steering group of the reform and in all of the eight districts (comprising 55 municipalities) taking part in the project. The secondary data includes official documents of the Regional Support Project produced by the central government, different districts and the municipalities. The grounded theory -procedure revealed four partly conflicting frames. The different frames are the rhetoric and the reality of governance practices, national government as the reformer of autonomous local government, the fear of hollowing out local government and the gap between the elite and the masses. The phenomenon of administrative reform is experienced and interpreted differently depending on the frame adopted. In a situation, where contradicting frames are visible, a conflict is possible and even probable. However, this was not the case in the administrative reform studied. Instead, the most evident patterns of behavior in the reform process were pronounced pursuit of consensus, compromise seeking and avoidance of conflict. My research shows that the core process of an administrative reform is maintaining the cohesion of the elite . With this concept it was possible to connect the discovered contradicting frames to each other. Through an analysis of the interplay between the different frames and the core process, the dynamics of the administrative reform are unfolded. Essential in understranding the dynamics of an administrative reform is the existence of the conflicting frames and coincident objective of maintaining the cohesion of the elite. This combination is likely to lead to a wobbly and slow process and shows the troublesome nature of an administrative reform. The theoretical model created in this research, shows the process of an administrative reform as an application of unisonous instrumental-rational patterns. The possibilities of the above-mentioned approach are highly limited in producing new ways of function. Such limitedness is even more problematic in a multi-actor, network-type situation, where different interpretations of situations are not confronted but concealed in the fear of conflicts. Instead, administrative reform practices could be seen as historically and culturally defined processes of production of meanings, where the struggle of different ideas and interpretations is considered normal. The acceptance of struggle as a part of administrative reform requires that the individuals of the decision-making elites are ready to function in groups, where anxiety is allowed to be present at times. The groups the decision-making elites in administrative reforms are trying to find new creative solutions to the problems they face. Creative solutions develop in situations where genuine negotiation between different meanings and interpretations is present. Negotiation is however not possible in a situation where the fundamental objective of an elite-group is to prevent the individuals of the group from exposing to anxiety. If this is accepted, it is likely to lead to small steps, bad compromises and fragmented application of reform practices. In the context of administrative reforms this is problematic for it can lead to the regression of action or actually supporting the practices already functioning. These insights indicate why the nature of administrative reform is troublesome.
Laadunarviointi on keskeinen osa koulutuspolitiikkaa, jonka kansallisena tavoitteena on nostaa suomalaiset Euroopan osaavimmaksi kansaksi koulutuksen mittareilla mitattuna. Sillä on paitsi tekninen, myös hallinnollinen funktionsa. Arviointikäytänteet osana koulutuksen hajautettua hallintaa ja arviointikulttuurin lanseerausta ovat leviämässä kansalliselta tasolta kuntien ja koulujen toimintakäytänteisiin. Tässä tarkoituksessa hallinto tukee yhtenäisten itsearviointimenetelmien ja laadunhallintamallien käyttöönottoa paikallisen tason laaduntarkkailussa. Tämän tutkimuksen keskiössä on kysymys koulutuksen 'laadun' konstruktiivisesta muotoutumisesta perusopetusta koskevassa koulutuspoliittisessa diskurssissa ja arviontikäytänteissä. Foucault'n hallinnan analyyttisen näkökulman kautta tutkimus jäsentää laadun muotoutumisen diskursiivisia reunaehtoja suhteessa laadunarvioinnin totuuksiin ja oikeuttamiseen (rationaliteetti), laadun tuottamisen tapoihin ja käytäntöihin (teknologia) sekä subjektin rooliin laatudiskurssissa. Tutkimuksen aineistona on Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriön julkaisema koulutuspoliittinen teksti "Perusopetuksen laatutyö. Erilaisia tapoja ottaa laatukriteerit hallintaan", joka on kunnille ja kouluille suunnattu laadunarviointia koskeva ohjeistus ja arvioinnin käytännön apuväline. Tutkimuksen tulosten perusteella koulutuksen 'laatu' näyttäytyy ristiriitaisena koulutuspoliittisena empty signifier-terminä, jolla laadun rationaliteetti ja teknologia on sidottu yhteen, palvelemaan samoja yhteiskunnallisia päämääriä. Lähtökohtaiset oletukset 'laadun' yhteiskunnallisen oikeuttamisen ja varsinaisten arviointikäytäntöjen taustalla eroavat kuitenkin toisistaan merkittävästi. 'Laatu' on toisaalta yhteiskunnalliseen muutokseen reagoivaa loputonta liikettä ja kehittymistä laadun idean tasolla ja toisaalta arviointijärjestelmän sisällä tuotettua kuntien ja koulujen systemaattista seurantaa sekä tosiasiana todettua kyvykkyyden mittaamista suhteessa tavoitteisiin. Laadunarvioinnin diskurssi tarjoaa analyysin perusteella laadun muotoutumiselle jatkuvan kehittymisen ideologian ja metodologiset kehykset, muttei välineitä laadun parantamiseen subjektin näkökulmasta esimerkiksi pyrkimällä tukemaan oppilaan oppimisen edellytyksiä. 'Laatu' irrotetaan koulutuksen arjesta, arvoista ja pedagogisista periaatteista neutraalisti tuotetuksi arviointitiedoksi. Laadun subjektit (opettajat ja opiskelijat) esitetään laatutyöhön osallistettavina laadun tuottamisen välineinä. Governed quality? About the nature and definitioning terms of quality in the education policy discourse Abstract Quality assurance is understood as an important part of education policy in which the main goal is to raise Finnish to the most capable people in Europe measured by the indicators of education quality. It has both technical and governmental functions. Quality assurance methods as a part of diffused regime of governing are expanding from the national level into the practices of the municipal corporations and the schools. In this meaning the current regime of governance supports the commissioning of the uniform assurance technigues and models as the forms of local quality control. In the center of this research is the question of 'quality' and the way it is formed in the discourse of education policy and through the modes of quality assurance. The research analyzes the preconditions of this discoursive consept through Foucaults analytic perspective. It pays attension to the truths and legitimation of quality (rationality of government), the quality practices (technique of government) and the role of the subject in the discourse of quality. The data of the research consist of the education policy text "Perusopetuksen laatutyö. Erilaisia tapoja ottaa laatukriteerit hallintaan" (Quality work in Basic education. Ways to take over the quality criteria), published by Ministry of Education and Culture. The text is an instructioning publication for the municipal corporations and schools, amed to support their self evaluation. As a results of the research 'quality' appears as a contradictional 'empty signifier'-concept used as a tool of education policy. By using the consep it is possible to combine the rationalities and the techniques of quality, both serving the societal ambitions. Even so, the main principals behind the legislations of society level and the ideas connected to assurance practices differ from each other significally. On one hand 'quality' is seen as an idea and reaction to the endless movement of the development of society, but on another it is about verifying the 'true' capability of the local actors reaching goals and results; systematic measurement inside the regime of assurance. Thus the education discourse gives for the forming quality two attributes: the ideology of continuing development and the frames of measument, but says nothing about how the subjects/actors could reach those goals in practice by improving the conditions of learning. Governed 'quality' is separated from the ordinary reality of schooling, from the values of teaching and the principals of pedagogy and translated into neutrally produced assurance knowledge. The real subjects of quality (teachers and pupils) are performed as committed instruments of the production of it.
Kunnat ovat suuren muutoksen keskellä. Kuntarakenneuudistus sekä sosiaali- ja terveydenhuollon palvelurakenneuudistus tulevat muuttamaan kuntien hallintoa merkittävästi. Kari Hakarin tutkimus tarkastelee yhden suuren kaupungin hallinnonuudistusta uuden julkisen hallinnan teorian näkökulmasta. Uusi julkinen hallinta on kunnallishallinnon uudistamisen kolmas vaihe, joka on kehittynyt perinteisestä julkishallinnosta ja tätä seuranneesta uudesta julkisjohtamisesta. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on arvioida, onko uudesta julkisesta hallinnasta kuntien hallinnonuudistusten uudeksi suunnaksi. Tutkimuksella tuetaan myös kuntien käytännön kehittämistoimintaa. Tutkimuskohteena on Tampereen kaupungin toteuttama kokonaisvaltainen toimintamallin uudistus. Uudistus muodostuu kolmesta osasta: pormestarijärjestelmästä, tilaaja–tuottaja-mallista sekä asiakaslähtöisestä prosessiajattelusta. Tutkimustulokset osoittavat, että Tampereen muutosprosessi toteuttaa varsin hyvin uuden julkisen hallinnan mukaista ajattelua. Se ei kuitenkaan edusta tätä moderneimmillaan, vaan perustuu vahvasti sekä byrokraattisen organisaation rakenteisiin että uuden julkisjohtamisen mukaiseen markkinoistumisen tavoitteeseen. Näyttää siltä, että Tampereenkin toimintamalli kaipaa päivittämistä, jotta se pystyy vastaamaan paremmin tulevaisuuden haasteisiin. Moderni uuden julkisen hallinnan kokonaisuus kuntien hallinnon kehittämisen näkökulmasta muodostuu 1) avoimesta kumppanuudesta asukkaiden, palvelutuottajien ja muiden sidosryhmien kanssa, 2) paikallisuuden ja yhteisöllisyyden korostamisesta, 3) monimuotoisesta suorasta ja edustuksellisesta demokratiasta, 4) asiakaslähtöisestä palvelujen kehittämisestä, 5) tulosperusteisesta palveluiden hankinnasta sekä 6) monimuotoisesta palvelutuotannosta. Muutos vallankäytössä on yksi uuden julkisen hallinnan ominaispiirre. Kunnan johtaminen edellyttää monimutkaistuvassa yhteiskunnassa uusia välineitä ja toimintatapoja. Tutkimuksen mukaan moderni kunnan johtaminen perustuu onnistuneelle yhdistelmälle pehmeää ja kovaa valtaa. Tutkimuksen mukaan uusi julkinen hallinta voi kehittyä kuntien hallinnonuudistusten perustaksi. Tätä tukee se, että uudessa julkisessa hallinnassa kehittämisperiaatteet muodostavat loogisen kokonaisuuden, jota voidaan käytännössä toteuttaa monin välinein erilaisissa tilanteissa. Lisäksi on olemassa ilmeinen tarve yhteiselle visiolle, jotta välttämättä edessä oleva kuntien hallinnonuudistus pystytään toteuttamaan. Uudet, isot reformit tarvitsevat aina mallin, johon muutos voidaan perustaa. Uuden julkisen hallinnan kehittymistä tukee myös se, että hallinnon kehittämisen käytännön toteutukset sekä kansainvälisesti että Suomessa toteuttavat jo monella tavoin uuden julkisen hallinnan mukaisia hallinnonuudistuksen kehityssuuntia. Tutkimus tuo uutta tietoa uuden julkisen hallinnan käytännön toteutuksesta suuressa suomalaisessa kaupungissa. Se näyttää myös suuntaa kuntien kehittämistyölle yhdistäen käytäntöä ja teoriaa ja tuo näin tietoa sekä käytännön kuntien kehittämistehtävissä toimiville että tutkijoille. Tampereen toimintamallin päivittämiselle se tarjoaa päämäärän, jota kohti edetä. ; The subject of this dissertation is the new public governance from the perspective of the local government management reforms. The research question is: how is the new public governance reflected in local government reforms? The research ques-tion will be examined from the perspectives of theory, practice and power relations. The empirical object of the study is the management reform of the City of Tampere, Finland. The reform includes three parts: the mayoral system, the purchaser-provider model and the customer-oriented process organization. The study also aims at the development of municipal operations, and presents new public governance as a comprehensive "theory of practice", which combines theory and practice and allows municipalities to find perspectives, tools and a theoretical framework for their management reforms. The study consists of four separate published sub-studies and this summary. The first sub-study deals with the theory of new public governance within the framework of the management reform of the City of Tampere. The second and third sub-studies are concerned with a variety of practical implementations of new public governance in the City of Tampere management reform. The fourth sub-project addresses power relations. In this summary the results are presented from the perspective of a management model, networked service development and the change in the exercise of power. Questionnaires were the empirical basis of the first two sub-studies, the third examined written documents and used interviews with experts and fourth sub-study relied on theme interviews with directors. New public governance (NPG) represents the third wave of the management re-forms evolving from a traditional public administration, and that following the new public management. An essential feature of the new public governance is that it does not completely reject earlier administrative reforms, but rather complements them with new solutions. NPG is based on the view that the public administration is no longer able alone to control society, but the success of governance is based on the partnership with the private and third sectors as well as with the citizens. Within the framework of new public governance one can, at least to some extent, identify three distinct trends. The differences between the trends are mainly in emphasis placed on various matters. Discussion of the new public governance started in network governance. Next, the new public governance was discussed from the perspective of democratic decision-making and public participation. The third emphasis seems to be on the new public governance as a development of customer-focused services and co-production. The results show that the process of change of the City of Tampere can be imple-mented quite well within the new public governance paradigm. At the beginning of the process the new public management was a decided basis of the reform. In the phases of preparation and implementation constraints and international experiences of weaknesses were perceived in the new public management model. On the basis of this, the management model has been developed further so that issues of new public governance such as local democracy, participation, networks and transparency of government have become stronger. The management model of Tampere does not, however, represent the new public governance in its modern form. The Tampere model is built on a basis of democracy and regulation of traditional public administration as well as the quasi-markets of the new public management. The modern new public governance reform seems to be moving especially towards a customer-oriented service development. According to this study the change in the use of power seems to be one of the characteristics of society's growing complexity and new public governance. There is a need for new instruments for leadership and in the exercise of power in an in-creasingly complex society. The modern municipal leadership is based on a suc-cessful combination of soft and hard power. The growth of new public governance as the next paradigm of management re-forms can be justified from three different perspectives. First, the new public gov-ernance is a logical entity. It brings together coherent principles of management reform, which can be implemented in practice by a variety of techniques in different situations. Second, there is an obvious need for a common vision for local gov-ernment reforms. New, large-scale reforms always need a new paradigm in which a change can be set up. There is a need for a common vision for the municipalities and their functions in order to implement local government reform. The new public governance could be the entirety that can show the way for the necessary man-agement reform of municipalities in Finland. Third, the practical implementations of management reforms both internationally and in Finland are already realizing the trends of management reform of new public governance in a number of ways.
The great change in European relations with Russia took place in 1478 when Muscovy replaced the trading Republic of Novgorod as a neighbor of Sweden, Livonia and Lithuania. Western Europe was since that year bordering to a bellicose great power with large resources causing dread. The feelings of dread caused by Russia with Czars like Ivan the Terrible became a standing theme in printed matter as well as politics and the image of Russia became very much similar to the image of Turkey, which threatened Europe from South-East. Various, usually rather negative, stereotype expressions characterized the vocabulary of the 16th century. The Peace of Stolbova in 1617 started a period of successive change. The era of Sweden as a Great Power led to growing knowledge about Russia in almost every respect, but it was still based on the already accepted stereotypes. They started, however, typically to seem more diluted and thin with time. The image of Russia as a threat was to a growing extent replaced by an image of a possibility. The perhaps most remarkable but rather unoriginal printed Swedish description of Russia of the era was Regni Muschovotici Sciographia, published by Petrus Petrejus. At the final stage of Sweden's era as a great power there was a substantial widening but also polarization of the information on Russia. The Russian reform process during Tsar Peter I also began to influence the minds after the turn of the century in 1700. One of the principal describers of this process was Lars Johan Malm (Ehrenmalm), whose large manuscript about the power of the Russian Empire of that time, Några Anmärkningar Angående det Ryska Rijkets Nuvarande Macht from 1714, never reached the printers due to intervention from censors.
Why the Kalevala and not the Kanteletar? The Kalevala Society's 101st Yearbook maps the processes of canonizing and marginalizing in traditions, cultural heritage and literature by focusing on the fringes of cultural ideals and norms. How and using which criteria have researchers, artists and materials of cultural production been lifted up or pushed aside? What kind of nations would have emerged if writing the nation had rested on the alternatives: the marginal rather than the canonical genres? A look into the blind spots and fringes of culture and research reveals the endless movement in and between hierarchically positioned spheres of culture. Listening to margins changes not only the canon but also the idea of canon.
Participatory approaches and co-research are increasingly employed in the current moment for exploring barriers to equality. Co-research treats research participants as experts in their own lives and as equal research partners. Research conducted with this orientation is based on research problems drafted by the research participants themselves from their aspirations regarding the research process and an active partnership that considers the interests of all parties involved. Participatory methods are used in co-research, particularly for the purpose of deepening the contextualisation of research knowledge about structurally vulnerable or subordinated groups and to challenge the power positions associated with traditional research designs. In co-research, the role of the people involved in the research is more central than in more traditional research. One of the key principles of co-research is that co-investigators (a) can participate in various roles, (b) have the opportunity to participate in different phases of the research according to their own interests and resources, and (c) co-investigators' participation can take many forms, including differences in intensity. The idea is to provide more people with opportunities to contribute to the knowledge production about themselves and their communities from their respective perspectives and interests. Co-research is also seen as an opportunity to improve the relevance and usefulness of scientific knowledge. It aims to genuinely increase interaction and openness and extend science's societal responsibility. In this book, we approach co-research as a means to promote social justice, as an action with a societal impact contributor to social impact and as a means to promote the societal responsibility of science. We discuss and evaluate the ideals of the co-research process concerning the everyday challenges and practices in research. Above all, we offer the knowledge and experience generated by our own projects to support those planning or already implementing co-research projects.