Social embeddedness of policy actors. The failure of consumer-owned wind energy in Finland

Abstract

This article investigates democratic performance of policy networks. To shed new light on this topic, the social embeddedness, i.e. social and economic ties of actors in and around policy networks are analysed. A qualitative case study of energy policy networks in Finland is presented. Energy-intensive industries, incumbent utilities and the government are the main actors in policy networks. There are also extensive ties between them. Wind energy developers are formally linked to the networks. However, they have few possibilities to participate in the policy processes or to make an impact on policies. Similarly, representation of the people is poor. Also, the policy debates are not open-ended. Hence, it appears that the policy actors' social embeddedness casts a shadow on the democratic anchorage of the policy networks. Based on these tentative findings, it is concluded that the democratic performance of policy networks should be investigated, not assumed.