Study title

Finnish Local Government 2004: Office-Holders and Elected Officials 1995

Dataset ID Number

FSD1194

Persistent identifier

urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD1194

Data Type

Quantitative

Authors

• Ståhlberg, Krister (Åbo Akademi University. Department of Public Administration)
• Pikkala, Sari (Åbo Akademi University. Department of Public Administration)

Abstract

The survey studied the opinions of municipal elected officials and office-holders. The respondents rated how well or badly certain municipal services functioned in their municipality and evaluated whether the municipality should invest more or less in a particular service. Services covered included social services, health services, education and cultural services and municipal technical services. The respondents evaluated the adequacy, professionalism and user-friendliness of the services in their own sector.

Working relations between different bodies in the municipality were investigated. The respondents assessed various organisational options for municipal government and rated the importance of different actions and decisions in the development of municipal services (e.g. user fees, quality management, increasing citizens' influence, joint service production with other municipalities). The respondents assessed the importance of various sources of information on the financial and economical situation of the municipality. One theme focused on which topics should be included in the negotiations between municipal employees and the municipality.

The respondents evaluated how important certain tasks/goals were in their work as elected or municipal officials: motivating employees, reforming administration, creating strategies, contacts with employees, inhabitants or the media etc. The respondents were asked to what extent they agreed with statements relating to the division of work and distribution of power between office-holders and elected officials. The frequency of interaction with certain operators was surveyed. Elected officials were asked about the time spent on elective office tasks and willingness to be renominated. The survey charted the extent of influence different operators/bodies have on municipal decision-making and how great their impact was. Some questions focused on the respondents' methods of influencing decision-making. Views on municipal management were probed.

Background variables included the municipality, the respondent's status and activity sector in the municipality, year of birth, sex, mother tongue, education, number of under-age children, employer sector, duration of residency in the municipality, duration of employment, elective offices in the municipality and elsewhere, occupation, status in employment, and party membership.

Keywords

administration; councillors; elected officials; local finance; local government; local government services; managers; municipal government; municipalities; office-holders; personnel; political power; public services

Topic Classification

• Social sciences (Fields of Science Classification)
• Elites and leadership (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Government, political systems and organisations (CESSDA Topic Classification)
• Social welfare policy (CESSDA Topic Classification)

Series

Finnish Local Government 2004

Distributor

Finnish Social Science Data Archive

Access

The dataset is (B) available for research, teaching and study.

Data Collector

• Åbo Akademi University. Department of Public Administration

Data Producers

• Åbo Akademi University. Department of Public Administration

Time Period Covered

1996

Collection Dates

1996-11 – 1997-01

Nation

Finland

Geographical Coverage

Finland, Espoo, Haukipudas, Humppila, Hämeenlinna, Iitti, Jaala, Joroinen, Kaarina, Karstula, Kemiö, Kerava, Kiikala, Kokkola, Kolari, Kotka, Kristiinankaupunki, Kuhmoinen, Lappeenranta, Leppävirta, Lieksa, Liljendal, Lumijoki, Mikkeli, Multia, Naantali, Noormarkku, Närpiö, Oulainen, Outokumpu, Padasjoki, Pieksämäki, Rural Municipality of Porvoo, Pudasjärvi, Punkaharju, Pyhäntä, Pylkönmäki, Ranua, Rääkkylä, Sonkajärvi, Suolahti, Tyrnävä, Vaasa, Vahto, Varkaus, Vehkalahti, Vimpeli, Virrat

Analysis/Observation Unit Type

Individual

Universe

Members of municipal councils, executive boards and key committees and municipal chief executives

Time Method

Longitudinal: Trend/Repeated cross-section

Sampling Procedure

Mixed probability and non-probability

Two-stage stratified sampling in selecting project municipalities. Total study of the elected officials and office-holders selected with judgmental sampling.

The project municipalities were selected separately from those with less than 10,000 inhabitants (28 municipalities) and from those with more than 10,000 inhabitants (19 municipalities). The selection aimed to be representative within both groups in relation to all municipalities with the same population size. Large municipalities were over-represented because 70% of the Finnish population lives in large municipalities. Representativeness criteria included regional location, age and education of the population, industry structure, municipal economy parameters, political situation and variables related to municipal policy. The selected municipalities form a small scale model of all Finnish municipalities. The Åland Islands municipalities were excluded because of special features caused by their autonomy.

The sample of elected officials included the members of municipal committees covering the following branches: education, library and cultural services, vocational education, youth services, sport services, leisure and recreation services and facilities, basic security, social and health services, environmental protection, town and land-use planning, real estate, technical services including fire services and public works. The sample included only the key committees of social and health services, technical services and educational and cultural services, excluding 'one issue' committees.

Altogether, the sample consisted of 1519 members of municipal councils, 430 members of municipal executive boards and 2,130 members of 252 municipal committees. Overlaps were removed and the final sample size was 3,120 persons.

The sample of municipal office-holders consisted of chief executives and presenting officials of municipal committees. Financial managers were excluded. The sample size was 530 persons. Seven persons represented both elected officials and office-holders.

Collection Mode

Self-administered questionnaire: Paper

Research Instrument

Structured questionnaire

Response Rate

71.10

Data File Language

Downloaded data package may contain different language versions of the same files.

The data files of this dataset are available in the following languages: Finnish.

FSD translates quantitative data into English on request, free of charge. More information on ordering data translation.

Data Version

1.0

Completeness of Data and Restrictions

The municipalities with more than 10,000 inhabitants were slightly overrepresented.

Weighting

There are no weight variables in the data.

Citation Requirement

The data and its creators shall be cited in all publications and presentations for which the data have been used. The bibliographic citation may be in the form suggested by the archive or in the form required by the publication.

Bibliographical Citation

Ståhlberg, Krister (Åbo Akademi University) & Pikkala, Sari (Åbo Akademi University): Finnish Local Government 2004: Office-Holders and Elected Officials 1995 [dataset]. Version 1.0 (2002-02-21). Finnish Social Science Data Archive [distributor]. https://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi:fsd:T-FSD1194

Deposit Requirement

Notify FSD of all publications where you have used the data by sending the citation information to user-services.fsd@tuni.fi.

Disclaimer

The original data creators and the archive bear no responsibility for any results or interpretations arising from the reuse of the data.

Related Publications

Kunnat ja päättäjät (1997). Toim. Sari Pikkala. Helsinki: Suomen Kuntaliitto. KuntaSuomi 2004 -tutkimuksia; 9 & Acta; 85.

Suomen demokratiaindikaattorit (2006). Toim. Sami Borg. Helsinki: Oikeusministeriö. Oikeusministeriön julkaisu 2006:1.

Pikkala, Sari (2006). Kuntademokratia indikaattoreiden valossa. Teoksessa: Suomen demokratiaindikaattorit (toim. Sami Borg), 231 - 261. Helsinki: Oikeusministeriö. Oikeusministeriön julkaisu 2006:1.

Leskinen, Jussi (2011). Yhteiskuntaryhmien väliset taloudellis-poliittiset intressikonfliktit kuntien palvelutuotannon New Public Management -hallintoideologiaa koskevien intressiasemien muotoutumiseen vaikuttavina tekijöinä. Tampere: Tampereen yliopisto. Valtio-opin pro gradu -tutkielma. urn:nbn:fi:uta-1-21922