Evaluating Stakeholder Diversity and Inclusiveness in Regulatory Governance: A Comparative Analysis of Open Consultations and Preparatory Bodies in Finland

This paper delves into stakeholder consultations as a component of regulatory processes within the framework of regulatory governance. The paper addresses how different consultation approaches conducted within governmental venues foster diverse and inclusive stakeholder participation by comparing engagement across open consultations and preparatory bodies. While the latter are less commonly employed in non-corporatist countries, similar closed consultation mechanisms, such as expert groups or advisory panels, are prevalent in many other political systems. By comparing the two consultation formats and the stakeholder types involved, we present findings on the levels of diversity and inclusiveness across different stakeholder types within each consultation approach, as well as findings on density of stakeholder types. Density refers to the number of different stakeholder types participating in consultations, while diversity indicates the variety between those stakeholder types. Theoretically, the two consultation formats can be analysed in relation to various governance concepts, including participatory, collaborative, and regulatory governance. These concepts share common goals such as promoting inclusiveness, diversity, higher quality regulation, and accountability, yet they also exhibit distinct differences. This paper also explores whether the choice of the consultation approach can be linked to these governance concepts to enhance our understanding of consultation objectives and their potential to engage stakeholders. The data comprises 138 legislative proposals gathered over three years (2013, 2017, 2021) that included both open consultations and preparatory bodies during policy preparation in Finland. Participants in open consultations included 7,500 stakeholders, while over 2,000 stakeholders were involved in preparatory bodies. Stakeholders are categorised into seven types, encompassing public authorities, companies, research entities, and various interest groups representing civil society. Additionally, legislative proposals are classified into different policy area categories, allowing for an analysis of the impact of specific policy issues on stakeholder engagement.