Meta-Governance of Regional Governance Networks in Nordic Countries

The article examines the character of political control in the meta-governance of Nordic regional governance networks, and asks to which degree the different meta-governance strategies ensure democratic legitimacy. We draw upon a unique comparative survey targeting regional network participants in four Nordic countries, enabling us to have a comparative approach. We find variations in how the meta-governance strategy of participation by regional politicians is used, and to what extent the networks are embedded in the local political level. The Danish networks are the ones having a clear bottom-up character, being deeply embedded in the local level. In contrast, the networks in the other countries are to a considerable extent meta-governed by national government, by hands-off strategies – designing and framing, as well as hands-on strategies; process management and participating in the networks. However, in all countries the networks seem to be legitimated by the participation and control by regional and local politicians, and to a lesser degree by the national level. We nevertheless find variation, and the general legitimacy of the networks seems to be lower in Sweden than in other countries.