Project Background
217 local referendums have been held in Norwegian municipalities, in order to explore public opinion on municipal amalgamation. This has led to a discussion of referendums as a democratic tool.
Questions have been raised about the practical implementation of such referendums, and whether there is a need for national guidelines.
Project Approach
The project mapped and discussed various aspects of local referendums on municipal amalgamation, and the role of referendums in municipal decision-making more generally.
Sub-projects
The project included seven sub-projects, in which different types of data and methods are used:
- A research-based overview of the use of local referendums
- Analysis of existing data on the referendums that have been held
- Carrying out and analysing an online survey to the municipalities that have held referendums
- Analysis of qualitative interviews from a project on the Municipal Reform
- Analysis and discussion of the electoral system (methods of alternative voting)
- Analysis of survey data from the Norwegian Citizen Panel
- A discussion of issues concerning the legitimacy of referendums
The project collaborated closely with – and utilized data from – the project Reshaping the Map of Local and Regional Self-Government. A study of the Norwegian Local Government Reform (NLGR) processes 2014-2019.
Publications
Lokale folkeavstemninger om kommunesammenslåing: Praksis og prinsipper, Jo Saglie og Signe Bock Segaard, report 2017:08 (in Norwegian)