Hilde Bjørnå

Place, organization, democracy: Three strategies for municipal branding

Abstract We develop a typology for analysing branding processes in municipalities: a place, organizational and democracy branding strategy. Our main contribution is to expand the view of municipalities as places, taking the debate on the branding of cities, regions and municipalities in a more nuanced direction. Our findings show that the place branding perspective is insufficient for understanding branding efforts; in fact, organizational branding is the most prevalent strategy. However, democracy branding is also strongly present. Using logistic regression, we conclude that the place branding debate should be nuanced by what we know about municipal size, identity and perceived media influence.

Two networks, one city: Democracy and governance networks in urban transformation

Governance networks are increasingly important in urban planning, in policy implementation and in service provision, and are often organized to improve efficiency and innovation in the pursuit of some public purpose. We argue that their democratic merits, in addition to their efficiency and output aspects, must be taken into consideration if they are to be understood as legitimate problem solvers on behalf of a local democratic authority. Here we draw on entrepreneurial and deliberative perspectives on urban governance, and work out criteria for assessing network performance. The insights of both perspectives are needed, we argue, to study legitimacy in contemporary urban policies, and we ask whether it is possible to strike a balance between democratic procedural standards and producing the desired outcomes. Empirically we compare the performance of a network with a strong entrepreneurial orientation with that of a network with a deliberative orientation, both located in the same city and operating within the same time frame.

Local government strategies and entrepreneurship

Our aim is to examine preconditions for local government intervention to promote entrepreneurial behaviour in rural areas with population decline. In the Nordic countries, the legal framework allows local government to take an active part in community development, e.g., to stimulate business as well as cultural activities. In Norway, even small rural municipalities are in command of, or are given access to financial and organisational resources that can be mobilised for community development. When acting outside their public welfare commitments, the municipal leaders deploy strategies of network governance, in which boundaries between and within public and private sectors are downplayed, to promote flexibility and inclusion of the interests in the broader community. In the present study, we compare four rural municipalities in Northern Norway with respect to their leadership strategies and entrepreneurial projects, and we examine the outcome of their developmental activities. A striking finding is that municipalities with rather similar structural characteristics differ with respect to strategies deployed and developmental success. What makes some municipalities better than others in creating an environment for entrepreneurial and innovative behaviour? Our findings suggest that leadership characteristics and the strength of the municipal economy are important factors.

Networking for development in the North: power, trust, and local democracy

This paper addresses modes and effects of local government involvement in development projects. In particular, it examines public–private interactions with regard to networking and power relations. The study is based on four development projects involving local authorities, located in two neighbouring municipalities in northern Norway. In these we find that most relationships are balanced and that a networking mode underpins the capacity of ‘getting things done’ or ‘power to’. ‘Power over’ relations, however, are observed over time, related to critical events in the implementation of the projects, and demanding explanations that exceed network analysis approaches. Rather than being classified as a distinct type of governance, networking and networks should be regarded as elements of varying importance in processes that also involve hierarchical and market-based inputs. In the processes studied, we found municipal leaders capable of resuming control by staging metagoverning activities.

Design, Trajectories of Reform, and Implementation of Performance Budgeting in Local Governments: A Comparative Study of Germany, Italy, Lithuania, and Norway

Since the post-war expansion of the welfare state, citizens have raised their expectations about the role of government. However, in most OECD countries the growth rate of GDP slowed down until its dramatic drop in 2007 due to the worldwide financial crisis. Therefore, budgeting processes and formats have become even more important for supporting political choices, fostering organizational efficiency, and monitoring results. This chapter focuses consistently on performance budgeting as a tool for strategic steering and control—the internal dimension of (post) New Public Management reforms. Based on the transformative approach of Christensen and Laegreid in their book New public management. The transformation of ideas and practice (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2001), we deal with patterns of reform that have introduced steering and control instruments inspired to performance-like measures (accrual accounting, performance-based budget, management control and so on) into four European countries (Germany, Italy, Lithuania, and Norway) at the local government level over last 20 years.

Gender Balance and Institutions in Local Government – Examples from Rural Norway

While steps are taken to increase women’s representation in politics, it can often prove difficult to change patterns of recruitment and nomination to political positions. This article argues that not only formal regulation, but also informal institutions, like local norms, beliefs and values, history and traditional codes of conduct matter and should be taken into account in plans to achieve balanced gender representation. The article compares recruitment policies in rural municipalities in Norway. Case studies were conducted to identify factors affecting women’s willingness to stand as candidates, the factors local political parties take into account when nominating candidates, and voting behaviour. The study suggests that local issues, such as religious traditions, distributional conflicts and desire for community representation, affect women representation. Representation policies in local governments are, in other words, not only affected by rules and values “from above”, they must also be understood in a “bottom up” perspective, as the aggregated consequences of the rational behaviour of voters. Keywords: women representation • representation policies • informal and formal institutions • local democracy