Citizen s Voice Prospects of Deliberative Welfare Policies in Finland

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1 Citizen s Voice Prospects of Deliberative Welfare Policies in Finland Assistant Professor Social and Health Management THE NORDIC MODEL - RELEVANT FOR EUROPE: WHEN, HOW AND WHY Thursday 16.5, University of Vaasa

2 Topics of the presentation I. Deliberative welfare policy? II. Citizen s Voice project III. Some real-world applications from Finland 2

3 I. Deliberative welfare policy? Deliberation to be truthful in what one says, to respect the arguments of others, to give good reasons for one s own arguments, and to be open to changing one s position by the force of the better argument (Steiner 2012) Deliberative democracy an association whose affairs are governed by the public deliberation of its members (Cohen 1991) Various methods, so called mini-publics, attempt to deliver the three ideals of deliberative democracy 3

5 I. Deliberative welfare policy? Policy-making where the citizens have an active role in developing and maintaining the welfare system. It is a dialogue and deliberation between citizens, patients, customers, political decision makers and administration (Vartiainen 2013) Prospects Leading decision makers to achieve good and justifiable decisions, i.e. informing and legitimizing policy and freeing paralyzed policy processes To revitalize democracy, i.e. promoting a healthier democratic culture and more capable citizenry 5

6 II. Citizen s Voice project Four-year research project ( ), Funded by the Academy of Finland Research task: To critically investigate the many-sided elements of deliberative democracy within the framework of complex health care issues, in the Finnish context. More concretely, to gain scientific evidence of how and if the practices of deliberative democracy could be applied in the context of Finnish health care. So far more than 10 deliberative models have been implemented Many more mentored all around Finland Finnish deliberative turn has began! 6

7 III. Some real-world applications from Finland Citizen s Jury for People with Disabilities World Café for Immigrants and Public Officials Citizen s Jury for Elderly People Health Dynamo (oncology clinic) 7

8 III. Citizen s Jury for People with Disabilities The objective of the jury was to support the project management of the Finnish national development programme for services for people with disabilities, to strengthen the voice of people with disabilities and to offer a new way of influencing societal decision-making, especially related to disability policies. Persons over 16 years and who lived with some disability or long-term disease were able to sign up for the jury; 9 jurors Lasted for three days Getting to know each other -> questioning witnesses -> deliberation -> writing the declaration of the jury -> press conference -> evaluation of the influence 8

9 III. World Café for Immigrants and Public Officials Topic: How can we create a common platform to promote integration? One evening at the City Hall of Vaasa Around 40 immigrants and 30 public officials and policymakers participated A rather unique and heart warming event! 9

10 III. Citizen s Jury for Elderly People When the Act on Care Services for the Elderly was being drafted at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, it was considered important to involve elderly citizens in policy making. A citizens jury for elderly people was implemented in Vaasa on 17, 18, 21 and 22 November The jury deliberated, questioned witnesses and wrote a declaration in response to the question What is elderly people's good life and good residence and how is it to be realized?. The jury consisted of people aged 65 or older. After extensive publicity, 55 elderly people signed up for the jury. In total 26 people were chosen as the jurors, with 23 eventually participating. The jury was bilingual, in Finnish and Swedish. 10

11 III. Health Dynamo How to achieve the best oncology clinic in Finland Four afternoons; 20 participants; clinic and the stakeholders in a miniature (cleaners, doctors, nurses, patients, NGO representatives etc.) To break the boundaries of special health care! 11

12 Questions? Picture: Anne-Maria Valkama 12

13 Thank you! Photos: Anssi Kumpula, Elina Peltola, Maiju Seppälä 13

Irmeli Järventie Current Position Research Interests Academic Education Academic Positions

1 Irmeli Järventie Current Position 1. University Lecturer of Social Psychology, School of Social Sciences and Humanities University of Tampere 2. Docent of Social Psychiatric Research at the Medical Faculty,