Local democracy in Norway, 2001

It has been a trend in Europe over the last years to transfer additional and more comprehensive tasks in the public sector for services from public to local authorities. This has in several cases led to increasingly large local authorities.This has been functionally reasoned on a basis of increased demands for capacity and service activeties. The focus on quality of democracy has tended to be ignored in the process. The survey is based on this paradox. More specifically, how the size of administrative units (municipalities) affects political participation and political representation. The size is in this case based upon population. The survey also tries to map out how satisfied people are with the local authorities and the public services in the municipalities, and which circumstances may affect such satisfaction. The survey is a part of an international project and similar surveys have been carried through in Denmark, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Great Britain.近年来，欧洲公共部门逐渐形成一项趋势：将公共部门中面向服务的额外且更综合的事务从上级公共机构转移至地方当局。此举在诸多案例中致使地方当局规模持续扩张，其背后的功能性逻辑基于行政能力与服务活动的需求提升。然而，这一进程中对民主质量的关注往往被忽视。 本调研正是立足于这一悖论展开，具体探讨行政单位（市镇，municipalities）的规模如何影响政治参与与政治代表。此处的规模以人口数量作为衡量基准。此外，本次调研还旨在厘清民众对地方当局及市镇公共服务的满意度状况，以及哪些情境因素可能对这类满意度产生影响。 本次调研属于一项国际合作项目的组成部分，丹麦、荷兰、瑞士与英国均已开展过类似调研。