The Quality of Government in Nordic Autonomies – A Framework for Analysis

The quality of government of autonomous regions remains an under-investigated issue. In this paper we focus on three small self-governed island regions with a high degree of autonomy. Party life is characterized by a distinct party system and the incumbents in government have the power to legislate a wide range of lawmaking devolved to these regions. The island regions demand more power and in some cases independence. How well are these self-governed regions skilled and to what extent do they have resources to prepare amendments, take decisions and implement laws? Above all, what is the quality of government as to compare with the standard of government in liberal democracies? We outline a framework on how measuring quality of government in entrenched self-governed regions in the north. Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland Islands are small, homogeneous, and their language and culture differs from the majority population in the core state. Although the quality of government differs between regions, it does not have any effect on their confident intention to win more autonomy or to gain independence.