著者

ケットゥネン ペッカ 藪長 千乃

出版者

Japan Association for Northern European Studies

雑誌

北ヨーロッパ研究 (ISSN:18802834)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.10, pp.25-34, 2014 (Released:2018-10-01)

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Mergers are seldom straight-forward, usually creating tension between the national and local levels and dividing political parties, with various interest groups, including the representatives of the local populace, attempting to influence the outcome of the process. In the 2000s, Finland and Japan experimented broadly with municipal amalgamation as a means for local government reform, but both ended with problems. We compare and explain those reforms by focusing on the respective political processes and interactions between the concerned political actors. The cases used in comparison represent very different cultures; hence the concepts of municipal autonomy or political power might be interpreted differently depending on the context. On the other hand, our analysis identifies both similarities and differences which can be discussed. We can see that municipal reforms resemble each other, and in particular, amalgamations as a solution for enlarging municipalities. Amalgamation processes are politically sensitive and often create both supporters and opposers. We see that political parties are important. In addition, councils seldom decide against the will of the majority of the citizenry, although the role of citizens can vary.