Whistleblowing in Local Government: An Empirical Study of Contact Patterns and Whistleblowing in 20 Norwegian Municipalities

Whistleblowing by administrative employees in local governments can bring critical knowledge about misconduct and failed policy outcomes and priorities to the attention of politicians. This article examines whether (1) whistleblowing to politicians is considered acceptable among politicians and administrative employees, (2) politicians receive whistleblowing cases and how those who do so handle the case, and (3) contact patterns between politicians and administrative employees influence the whistleblowing activity and the action taken by the politicians to address wrongdoing. The article departs from the theory of pillars of institutions and the tensions between and within institutional pillars to analyse unique data from a survey based on the vignette method and actual whistleblowing among politicians (N = 400) and employees (N = 373) from 20 Norwegian municipalities. The analysis shows that the degree of contact between politicians and administrative employees is correlated with positive perceptions of whistleblowing and constructive handling of wrongdoing reports by the politicians.     

Norway as an Example in the UK Women’s Suffrage Campaign

This article analyses the character and meanings of references to Norwegian experiences in the UK women’s suffrage campaign. It argues that the references to Norway served two main purposes. Firstly, they served as evidence of all the good things that would happen as a result of women gaining the vote, such as wage equality and social reform. Secondly, they played a significant part in establishing a counter-narrative to the anti-suffragist warnings of all the terrible things that would follow women’s suffrage. The study also discusses the limitations of political exchange and shows how different political contexts came into play in the debates on the validity of the Norwegian example.     

Norwegian Local Councils as Democratic Meta‐governors? A Study of Networks Established to Manage Cross‐border Natural Resources

Focusing on democracy, the question raised in this article is whether it is possible for local councils to play a role as democratic meta-governors in situations with cross-border conflicts over interests. According to the authors' definition, democratic meta-governance implies that the local councils assure that all interests are taken into account in governing networks. The analysis is based on data from extensive studies of two Norwegian networks dealing with cross-border natural resources. Not surprisingly, the authors' answer is rather negative. Based on analysis of who actually participates in the networks and the way the involved local councils deal with the question of democracy, this may be explained by the fact that each local council represents a specific defend interest held by the majority in their constituency. Instead of opening up and allowing the required participation, which may give the networks the legitimacy they need, the local councils are closing the networks in order to better get their interests heard. It should therefore be considered whether responsibility for securing democracy in the management of cross-border natural resources should be given to a regional or national authority, above the level of local government.