Multi-Actor Decision-Making in Local Affairs

Abstract

Contemporary welfare state manifests itself primarily in localities, where public services are delivered, political community develops and civil society grows. Those three elements – public services, political community and civil society – are consistent and indispensable in contemporary welfare performance. They also reflect the multiple roles of localities: ensuring a feeling of having own place and security in the physical and emotional sense; delivering a forum for expressing own views and influencing decisions on community issues; production, co-production and delivering of social services; self-development and self-realization, etc. Nevertheless, the role of local communities in welfare performance depends on the degree of decentralization, autonomy of local units, and accepted level of subsidiarity. It is also a function of the social system and market regulations. Although local authorities perform an essential role in shaping conditions of local welfare, they need to collaborate with numerous actors attached to different sectors. The range of this collaboration differs from country to country, from locality to locality. It also refers to different questions and stages of decision-making. The panel addresses issues of this collaboration in the process of decision-making.