Conflicting discourses — Social constructions of corruption in Finland

The Nordic countries are generally regarded as beacons of anti-corruption. This perception also applies to Finland, where corruption is said to be conspicuous by its absence. The article at hand, however, conveys a more nuanced picture of corruption in Finland. It delves into opinions submitted during the formulation of the Finnish anti-corruption strategy, identifying two conflicting corruption-related discourses. The analysis shows that corruption is a contested concept and that views on corruption prevalence and the need for anti-corruption measures vary greatly within the national context. The article illustrates the struggle between national corruption discourses, arguing that such discourses and their overall context should be analysed thoroughly if corruption efforts are to be grounded in their setting and successful. This is the case regardless of context and thus applicable also to countries perceived as “clean and honest”.

In search of healthcare system ideal types — Changeable classifications and dimensions

This article aims to classify the healthcare systems of 43 developed economies into different healthcare system types, and to examine whether the dimensions of health system characteristics produce coherent health system classification when the dimensions are observed separately. We group health systems into different types based on their institutional structures and performance using healthcare financing, healthcare provision and health outcomes as dimensions of the health system characteristics. Unlike previous classifications, we classify each dimension separately using hierarchical cluster analysis. In particular dimensions, our results resemble those found in previous classifications. However, no coherent clustering of healthcare systems was found across the three dimensions. The results show that healthcare system dimensions differ from each other and each of them form their unique system types. Separating the dimensions helps detecting connections between the healthcare system types and phenomena being studied. It is relevant to note the differences of health system dimensions while discussing healthcare system classifications.

Finland from inside and out

Editorial note

Finnish education system as seen from an Indonesian perspective

The aim of this paper is to discuss the Finnish education system from an Indonesian perspective, and consider what citizens, notably from middle-income countries, may learn from the Finnish system. The source material is the author’s book, which provides an Indonesian perspective on the Finnish education system, supplemented by discussions from webinars and weekly Instagram Live discussions on the topic. It is known that education is part of a country’s culture, thus the Finnish education system cannot simply be implemented as such in another place. Yet there certainly are elements that can be adopted to the local culture, in this case, in Indonesia. The different models of education in Finland and Indonesia are compared to conclude with lessons that we can learn from Finland, notably regarding a sustainable future and the possibility of learning simple daily life skills.

Metagovernance challenges in regional development: A comparison of Sweden, Denmark and Finland

Regional councils collaborate with municipalities, government agencies, universities, non-governmental organisations, and businesses when forming regional development policies in Nordic countries. Political representatives use metagovernance to steer this collaborative process, but previous research shows that politicians often struggle with metagovernance. There are few empirical studies on metagovernance and little is known about how institutional context affects it. This article comparatively explores the political metagovernance of regional development in Sweden, Denmark, and Finland, studying what metagovernance challenges politicians encounter and how institutional contexts shape their perceptions. The study uses survey data from 1006 regional council representatives, which are analysed using a mixed- methods approach. Findings reveal common metagovernance challenges in regional development, but also show the importance of institutional context. The regional councils’ institutional capacity has a clear impact: Danish and Finnish representatives request more formal powers and resources to develop their metagovernance role, while this is less of an issue among Swedish representatives.

Dissolution of expressive and instrumental voluntary associations: Four key dimensions in explaining organizational change

This study inspects the reasons as for why voluntary associations end their activity and dissolve as legal entities. The empirical data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with former leaders of 30 organizations in Estonia and Finland. To appreciate the sector’s diversity, the analysis makes a distinction between associations with mainly expressive, and those with mainly instrumental functions. Causes for the associations’ dissolution fall into four different categories related to (1) the association as a social entity, (2) resources, (3) goals and (4) environment. Reasons belonging to the first category of internal, social reasons, such as problems of leadership, internal organization and membership recruitment were the most common ones. However, several reasons often intertwined. A comparison between associations of different types showed that expressive associations were most often threatened by causes in the first category, while they were surprisingly immune to the other ones. Instrumental associations are dependent on other actors and external circumstances, and the reasons for their dissolution are likely to be related to problems with resource acquisition, goals or environments.

Revisiting universalism in the Finnish education system

The aim of the article is to revisit the principle of universalism and analyze how it has changed in the legislation on compulsory education by asking: how are different characteristics of universalism emphasized in the basic education legislation and parliamentary discussion (in 1968, 1982 and 1997)? The analysis portrays the varieties of universalism within the comprehensive school, produced by the four instruments used to govern education (legislation, economy, ideology and evaluatory). According to the analysis, the foundation of the comprehensive school system in the 1960s was laid on uniform content and aims at the ideological level, emphasizing equality of education. The 1980s was a transition phase between ‘old’ and ‘new’ universalism, when instruments of legal and economic governance enabled the expansion of universalism and increased costs. Simultaneously, the aims of the comprehensive system and its contents were increasingly set at the local level. We conclude that the ‘new’ comprehension of universalism in the 1990s entailed issues such as the rise of the evaluation of education, local economy of education and individualism.