The participation of civil society in social development is by now well understood to be an important component to increase transparency and ensure democratic vitality in all open societies (Putnam, 1993; Della Porta, 2014; Diani, 2015). A recognition of the importance of civil society in social development thus implies that the democratic project is not merely something done onto people, determined by powerful groups of elites (i.e. liberal state actors and owners of capital), but moreover, it is something that can be done by ordinary people, for the benefit of the common good. In Finland, owing to the increased liberalisation of the welfarestate, new opportunities now arise for civil society and pro-social movements to innovate solutions to many of the problems that ordinary people face in this turbulent, crisis-prone era, suggesting new forms and practices of democracy, as well as new kinds of justifications, engagements, and valuations embedded in political action. The goal of this contribution is to build upon the democratic or radical tradition of social innovation (e.g. Jessop & Moulaert, 2013 & Nicholls et al. 2015) which views innovation primarily and wholly as a tool for pro-social transformation influenced by community activism and citizen engagement, as opposed to the technocratic strand of innovation which is often motivated by commercial expansion and the exploitation of new economic opportunities (i.e. social investment). The central questions relevant here are: To what extent is the liberalisation of the welfare state and the expansion of civil society initiatives advantageous for democratic vitality? And, to what extent can these social innovators transform Finnish society owing to its current enabling environment?