Faraoese self-government: A disputed evolved model

Today, the Faroese self-government system resembles a fully developed political system with a high degree of institutional independence. The political system consists of parliament, government, a central ministry department institutional structure, a broad range of public institutions, and even a developed municipality structure. The missing larger piece is nevertheless the court system, including related practices and traditions. The central ministry administration has been under transformation since the implementation of a new governing rule and a new administrative reform in the late 1990s. Today, the central administrative institutional structure consists of separate ministry departments supporting the individual minister responsibility system. Different types of case work and services are today placed in institutions figuring under the ministry departments. In addition, different coordinating procedures and units have been implemented, and this means that vertical sector specialization is supplemented by horizontal coordination mechanisms to strengthen the system's functionality. There are, however, some concerns, like a lack of system support from some elite actors to the development of the administrative system, and that political actors to some degree maintain their preferences for political practices from the old governing system. Data on legislative rules (acts and executive orders) show that the Faroese system today drafts most of the annul new rules that regulate Faroese society. Moreover, the administrative system seems to have strategies to cope with the challenge of being a small-scale system where it is not possible to have policy specialists on all areas but at the same time need the same broad range of legislation as larger societies. Overall, economic and societal indicators show good results in terms of a continues positive development over time.