The Idea of the Vesterålen Municipality - What Do Local Politicians Think, and What Motives Do They Have? 2013

The purpose of the survey was to study the attitudes of the elected representatives towards municipality structures in general and particularly to the structure of Vesterålen. It focused on what attitudes there are in the municipal councils towards a municipal merge, and on what factors that influence these attitudes. Half a century has passed since the last major municipality reform took place in Vesterålen, which resulted in the current local municipality structure in the region. Much has changed since then, and there are now several indicators, both local and national, that suggest that a new reform would be occurring in the near future. No matter what happens, the debate about municipal structures will rise from the ashes again and again. In the municipal and county elections of 2011, the conservatives won six out of six mayors. The following year, the regional council passed a resolution to order a new impact assessment on the municipal structure of Vesterålen. In the same time as the inter-municipal cooperation has been strengthened, several of the mayors have spoken of a municipal merge. It may appear that a reform is on the agenda in the region, but as long as the voluntary line is continued in the Parliament, these processes have to be processed in the individual municipal councils. What do then local politicians think of the municipal structure, and what motives has the individual politician when he or she expresses his or her support or resistance to the reform? To find this out, a survey was conducted among the municipal councils in the six municipalities Vesterålen consist of today. The data show that the politicians in Vesterålen are divided in the proposal of a merge, but the opponents are slightly more confident in their case. The study also shows that a number of characteristics about the individual politician influence how he or she form their attitude towards the proposal.

The master thesis is available through DUO Research Archive (UiO).