ABSTRACT
Introduction1 Regional development policy-making is traditionally based on a fairly wellestablished belief in the European, national and/or regional institutions and in the capabilities of policy makers to find correct strategies for the future by rational programming processes. In Finland, for example, in the era of building the welfare state, the System as a whole ‘was the capacity’ and leadership was in the hands of the few. A strong belief in comprehensive systems included a strong belief in the possibility of planning economic development, of exerting influence over the future and of controlling it. In policy-making attention was paid to the process in which decision makers used consultation, mathematical models, reports and surveys, for example, to select the best possible means for resolving a precisely defined problem. Existing structures and functions were not called into question, and regions and cities did not need to proportion their own activities to global developments. Management of regional development activities and policy-making at the local level in general required good administrative skills, knowledge of various statutes, and the ability to follow instructions correctly and efficiently.
