Local State-Society Relations in Norway

The Norwegian local state-society networks considered, selected on the basis that they occur in most municipalities, are (1) council for the elderly and council for people with disabilities, (2) young people’s parliament and youth council, (3) economic development committee, (4) committee for voluntary organizations and (5) sub-municipal bodies. Councils for the elderly and councils for people with disabilities are delegated networks. Both young people’s parliaments and youth councils and committees for voluntary organizations are communicative networks mainly engaged in knowledge sharing. Economic development committees are characterized as strong consociational networks, while sub-municipal bodies are collaborative networks. Overall, the relation between civil society and local authorities in Norway is varied, and the functions of the networks are mostly advisory, but formalized within the political system.