Maija Jäske
Biographic Data
| ID | 4154428 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Maija Jäske |
| GIVEN NAMES | Maija |
| FAMILY NAME | Jäske |
| SIGNATURE | JÄSKE M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Turku |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1314-9034 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 108 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 12 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Historical trajectories of democratic innovations in Finland
Democratic innovations have gained popularity in Finland, especially during the last 15 years, at the national and subnational level. However, research on Finnish democratic innovations is still fragmented, focusing on isolated methods, case studies, and experiments. Our article aims to provide a first comprehensive outlook of the diffusion of democratic innovations in Finland. From the 1980s onwards, we identify five legislative milestones that …
Public trust in advisory mini-publics: The impact of recommendations and institutional design features
Deliberative mini-publics are among the most studied forms of citizen participation with an active global developer network. Mini-publics have shaped legislation and provided useful information for voters in many countries, but our knowledge on the public perceptions of these mechanisms remains ambiguous. The public generally trusts mini-publics, but often on different grounds than democratic theory expects. We ran a population-based survey exper…
Mini‐Public's Statements and Media as Transmitters of Deliberative Judgments: A Field Experiment on a Citizens' Jury on Forest Policy
Deliberative mini‐publics have become commonplace in policymaking on complex issues such as climate policies. When assessing the macro‐political impacts of deliberative mini‐publics, it is important to examine how information about their procedures and outcomes is transmitted to the wider public. We conducted a field experiment to compare the effects of reading a mini‐public statement to those of reading mediated information on a mini‐public. Our…
Deliberative Mini-publics Facilitating Voter Knowledge and Judgement: Experience from a Finnish Local Referendum
This article examines the use of a Citizens’ Jury as a source of voter information in the context of a government-initiated (top-down) referendum. Several studies show the capacity of the Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) to enhance voters’ knowledge and capacity of judgement in ballot initiative processes. However, similar procedures have not been tested outside the U.S.A. or in the context of government-initiated referendums. Our case is a Citi…
Can politicians and citizens deliberate together? Evidence from a local deliberative mini‐public
In a deliberative mini‐public, a representative number of citizens receive information and discuss given policy topics in facilitated small groups. Typically, mini‐publics are most effective politically and can have the most impact on policy‐making when they are connected to democratic decision‐making processes. Theorists have put forward possible mechanisms that may enhance this linkage, one of which is involving politicians within mini‐publics …
When do You Want It? Determinants of Future-Oriented Political Thinking
Many studies have examined whether citizens prefer direct or stealth democracy, or participatory democratic processes. This study adds to the emerging literature that instead examines the temporal aspect of citizens’ process preferences. We use a survey with a probabilistic sample of the Finnish voting-age population ( n = 1,906), which includes a measure of the extent to which citizens think democratic decision-making should maximize welfare tod…
A Functionalist Approach to Democratic Innovations
This article argues that it is important to analyse different democratic innovations in terms of their functions in democratic systems. For example, while citizens’ initiatives have a role in agenda setting, practices of citizen deliberation should help collective will-formation and referendums facilitate collective decision making. The article provides a framework for the analysis of various instruments of direct, deliberative and participatoryd…
Participatory innovations and maxi‐publics: The influence of participation possibilities on perceived legitimacy at the local level in Finland
Participatory innovations (PIs) have been introduced as one possible cure to democratic malaises. Empirical research on these mechanisms for citizen participation has, however, focused on their effects on individuals and policy outcomes, leaving aside their consequences for the wider public. This article fills part of the gap by examining the effect of PIs on perceived legitimacy. The article acknowledges that citizens value not only outcomes but…
The democratic potential of civic applications
Recently, digital democratic applications have increased in presence and scope. This study clarifies how civic applications – bottom-up technologies that use open data to solve governance and policy challenges – can contribute to democratic governance. While civic applications claim to deepen democracy, systematic frameworks for assessing the democratic potential of civic apps are missing, because apps are often evaluated against technical criter…
Self-reported health and democratic innovations: The case of the citizens’ initiative in Finland
This study examines the association between self-reported health and the propensity for supporting citizens’ initiatives in Finland. Democratic innovations such as the citizens’ initiative provide novel ways for citizens to express their preferences, but whether people in poor health make use of such possibilities remains unclear. The data come from the Finnish National Election Study (FNES2015), a cross-sectional representative sample of the Fin…
The Finnish Citizens’ Initiative: Towards Inclusive Agenda‐setting
This article examines whether the Citizens' Initiative (CI) in Finland has enhanced inclusion in processes of political agenda‐setting. Democratic innovations such as CIs have been proposed as a solution to the challenges facing Western democracies. CIs are expected to increase political inclusion by allowing citizens to set the political agenda and by mobilising otherwise marginalised or passive citizens. However, the empirical evidence on this …
Soft’ forms of direct democracy: Explaining the occurrence of referendum motions and advisory referendums in Finnish local government
This study investigates ‘soft’ forms of direct democracy and identifies factors that explain their occurrence. Soft direct democracy refers to non‐binding referendum motions and advisory referendums, which the literature on direct democracy has largely ignored. Strategic motives have dominated previous explanations of the occurrence of initiatives and referendums, but are less useful in exploring non‐binding procedures of direct democracy. The ar…
A Functionalist Approach to Democratic Innovations
This article argues that it is important to analyse different democratic innovations in terms of their functions in democratic systems. For example, while citizens’ initiatives have a role in agenda setting, practices of citizen deliberation should help collective will-formation and referendums facilitate collective decision making. The article provides a framework for the analysis of various instruments of direct, deliberative and participatoryd…
Participatory innovations and maxi‐publics: The influence of participation possibilities on perceived legitimacy at the local level in Finland
Participatory innovations (PIs) have been introduced as one possible cure to democratic malaises. Empirical research on these mechanisms for citizen participation has, however, focused on their effects on individuals and policy outcomes, leaving aside their consequences for the wider public. This article fills part of the gap by examining the effect of PIs on perceived legitimacy. The article acknowledges that citizens value not only outcomes but…
Soft’ forms of direct democracy: Explaining the occurrence of referendum motions and advisory referendums in Finnish local government
This study investigates ‘soft’ forms of direct democracy and identifies factors that explain their occurrence. Soft direct democracy refers to non‐binding referendum motions and advisory referendums, which the literature on direct democracy has largely ignored. Strategic motives have dominated previous explanations of the occurrence of initiatives and referendums, but are less useful in exploring non‐binding procedures of direct democracy. The ar…
The Finnish Citizens’ Initiative: Towards Inclusive Agenda‐setting
This article examines whether the Citizens' Initiative (CI) in Finland has enhanced inclusion in processes of political agenda‐setting. Democratic innovations such as CIs have been proposed as a solution to the challenges facing Western democracies. CIs are expected to increase political inclusion by allowing citizens to set the political agenda and by mobilising otherwise marginalised or passive citizens. However, the empirical evidence on this …
Deliberative Mini-publics Facilitating Voter Knowledge and Judgement: Experience from a Finnish Local Referendum
This article examines the use of a Citizens’ Jury as a source of voter information in the context of a government-initiated (top-down) referendum. Several studies show the capacity of the Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) to enhance voters’ knowledge and capacity of judgement in ballot initiative processes. However, similar procedures have not been tested outside the U.S.A. or in the context of government-initiated referendums. Our case is a Citi…
Can politicians and citizens deliberate together? Evidence from a local deliberative mini‐public
In a deliberative mini‐public, a representative number of citizens receive information and discuss given policy topics in facilitated small groups. Typically, mini‐publics are most effective politically and can have the most impact on policy‐making when they are connected to democratic decision‐making processes. Theorists have put forward possible mechanisms that may enhance this linkage, one of which is involving politicians within mini‐publics …
The democratic potential of civic applications
Recently, digital democratic applications have increased in presence and scope. This study clarifies how civic applications – bottom-up technologies that use open data to solve governance and policy challenges – can contribute to democratic governance. While civic applications claim to deepen democracy, systematic frameworks for assessing the democratic potential of civic apps are missing, because apps are often evaluated against technical criter…
Self-reported health and democratic innovations: The case of the citizens’ initiative in Finland
This study examines the association between self-reported health and the propensity for supporting citizens’ initiatives in Finland. Democratic innovations such as the citizens’ initiative provide novel ways for citizens to express their preferences, but whether people in poor health make use of such possibilities remains unclear. The data come from the Finnish National Election Study (FNES2015), a cross-sectional representative sample of the Fin…
When do You Want It? Determinants of Future-Oriented Political Thinking
Many studies have examined whether citizens prefer direct or stealth democracy, or participatory democratic processes. This study adds to the emerging literature that instead examines the temporal aspect of citizens’ process preferences. We use a survey with a probabilistic sample of the Finnish voting-age population ( n = 1,906), which includes a measure of the extent to which citizens think democratic decision-making should maximize welfare tod…
Mini‐Public's Statements and Media as Transmitters of Deliberative Judgments: A Field Experiment on a Citizens' Jury on Forest Policy
Deliberative mini‐publics have become commonplace in policymaking on complex issues such as climate policies. When assessing the macro‐political impacts of deliberative mini‐publics, it is important to examine how information about their procedures and outcomes is transmitted to the wider public. We conducted a field experiment to compare the effects of reading a mini‐public statement to those of reading mediated information on a mini‐public. Our…
The Finnish Citizens’ Initiative: Towards Inclusive Agenda‐setting
This article examines whether the Citizens' Initiative (CI) in Finland has enhanced inclusion in processes of political agenda‐setting. Democratic innovations such as CIs have been proposed as a solution to the challenges facing Western democracies. CIs are expected to increase political inclusion by allowing citizens to set the political agenda and by mobilising otherwise marginalised or passive citizens. However, the empirical evidence on this …
Soft’ forms of direct democracy: Explaining the occurrence of referendum motions and advisory referendums in Finnish local government
This study investigates ‘soft’ forms of direct democracy and identifies factors that explain their occurrence. Soft direct democracy refers to non‐binding referendum motions and advisory referendums, which the literature on direct democracy has largely ignored. Strategic motives have dominated previous explanations of the occurrence of initiatives and referendums, but are less useful in exploring non‐binding procedures of direct democracy. The ar…
Self-reported health and democratic innovations: The case of the citizens’ initiative in Finland
This study examines the association between self-reported health and the propensity for supporting citizens’ initiatives in Finland. Democratic innovations such as the citizens’ initiative provide novel ways for citizens to express their preferences, but whether people in poor health make use of such possibilities remains unclear. The data come from the Finnish National Election Study (FNES2015), a cross-sectional representative sample of the Fin…
Participatory innovations and maxi‐publics: The influence of participation possibilities on perceived legitimacy at the local level in Finland
Participatory innovations (PIs) have been introduced as one possible cure to democratic malaises. Empirical research on these mechanisms for citizen participation has, however, focused on their effects on individuals and policy outcomes, leaving aside their consequences for the wider public. This article fills part of the gap by examining the effect of PIs on perceived legitimacy. The article acknowledges that citizens value not only outcomes but…
The democratic potential of civic applications
Recently, digital democratic applications have increased in presence and scope. This study clarifies how civic applications – bottom-up technologies that use open data to solve governance and policy challenges – can contribute to democratic governance. While civic applications claim to deepen democracy, systematic frameworks for assessing the democratic potential of civic apps are missing, because apps are often evaluated against technical criter…
A Functionalist Approach to Democratic Innovations
This article argues that it is important to analyse different democratic innovations in terms of their functions in democratic systems. For example, while citizens’ initiatives have a role in agenda setting, practices of citizen deliberation should help collective will-formation and referendums facilitate collective decision making. The article provides a framework for the analysis of various instruments of direct, deliberative and participatoryd…
When do You Want It? Determinants of Future-Oriented Political Thinking
Many studies have examined whether citizens prefer direct or stealth democracy, or participatory democratic processes. This study adds to the emerging literature that instead examines the temporal aspect of citizens’ process preferences. We use a survey with a probabilistic sample of the Finnish voting-age population ( n = 1,906), which includes a measure of the extent to which citizens think democratic decision-making should maximize welfare tod…
Can politicians and citizens deliberate together? Evidence from a local deliberative mini‐public
In a deliberative mini‐public, a representative number of citizens receive information and discuss given policy topics in facilitated small groups. Typically, mini‐publics are most effective politically and can have the most impact on policy‐making when they are connected to democratic decision‐making processes. Theorists have put forward possible mechanisms that may enhance this linkage, one of which is involving politicians within mini‐publics …
Deliberative Mini-publics Facilitating Voter Knowledge and Judgement: Experience from a Finnish Local Referendum
This article examines the use of a Citizens’ Jury as a source of voter information in the context of a government-initiated (top-down) referendum. Several studies show the capacity of the Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) to enhance voters’ knowledge and capacity of judgement in ballot initiative processes. However, similar procedures have not been tested outside the U.S.A. or in the context of government-initiated referendums. Our case is a Citi…
Public trust in advisory mini-publics: The impact of recommendations and institutional design features
Deliberative mini-publics are among the most studied forms of citizen participation with an active global developer network. Mini-publics have shaped legislation and provided useful information for voters in many countries, but our knowledge on the public perceptions of these mechanisms remains ambiguous. The public generally trusts mini-publics, but often on different grounds than democratic theory expects. We ran a population-based survey exper…
Mini‐Public's Statements and Media as Transmitters of Deliberative Judgments: A Field Experiment on a Citizens' Jury on Forest Policy
Deliberative mini‐publics have become commonplace in policymaking on complex issues such as climate policies. When assessing the macro‐political impacts of deliberative mini‐publics, it is important to examine how information about their procedures and outcomes is transmitted to the wider public. We conducted a field experiment to compare the effects of reading a mini‐public statement to those of reading mediated information on a mini‐public. Our…
Historical trajectories of democratic innovations in Finland
Democratic innovations have gained popularity in Finland, especially during the last 15 years, at the national and subnational level. However, research on Finnish democratic innovations is still fragmented, focusing on isolated methods, case studies, and experiments. Our article aims to provide a first comprehensive outlook of the diffusion of democratic innovations in Finland. From the 1980s onwards, we identify five legislative milestones that …
Political science (10 works) · Democracy (9 works) · Law (9 works) · Public Administration (9 works) · Law (8 works) · Politics (8 works) · Public Administration (8 works) · Public relations (8 works) · Social Media and Politics (7 works) · Sociology (7 works)