Politisk styrning i små kommuner

Samma mönster som i stora?

Abstract

Political steering in small municipalities. The same pattern as in large municipalities?

Municipal size is one of the crucial institutional aspects of local politics. However, hitherto most Swedish studies have examined the political steering in large municipalities. The understanding of the conditions and the steering ideals that exists in small municipalities are important when discussing the need for policy reforms affecting the municipal sector. This exploratory study examines whether there is a reason to believe that political steering in small municipalities differs from that in large municipalities. In the study leading representatives in three small municipalities describe how micro-management has been the common practice in their municipalities for a long period of time. If this result is confirmed by other studies, it is thus possible that the NPM-influenced management ideas, which often are assumed to have had a far-reaching impact on Swedish municipalities, have not yet gained a firm foothold in small Swedish municipalities.