From Centralized to Local Alcohol Policy? Administrative Decentralization and the Role of Local Municipalities in Finnish Alcohol Policy

Abstract

The main concern in the article is with the question of how far the administration of welfare policy in general and alcohol policy in particular has been decentralized from central government to the local level. The period under review extends from the abrogation of the Prohibition Act in 1932 up to the present day. For the part of alcohol policy, the development is measured on the basis of the changes that have taken place in alcohol legislation, specifically with regard to alcohol control and licensing. Separate treatment is given to municipal alcohol inspection and alcohol and temperance committees. The latitude of local self-government in welfare policy issues is described by reference to the government grant system. The resources allocated by central government to local municipalities may be earmarked for specific projects, or alternatively be granted for allocation according to the local municipality's own discretion. The article also introduces a case study on the alcohol policy decision-makers in a Finnish municipality in 1991–1994.

Local municipalities have greater autonomy today in the implementation and funding of welfare services than they did during the formative years of the welfare state. It is possible that in the future Finnish municipalities will become increasingly differentiated in terms of both the quality and quantity of services. However, local municipalities still remain first and foremost service providers; it seems that they have not even wanted to assume responsibility for the advocacy and protection of moral-political democracy. The same applies to alcohol policy. For the most part, local municipalities have tried to shed their responsibilities and reduce their influence in alcohol policy decision-making. During the 1990s municipalities have no longer wanted to assume responsibility for alcohol control or for the processing of licensing and retail sales permits. The article concludes that local municipalities consider the lack of services a greater problem than the social or health problems associated with alcohol.