1,721,149 research outputs found
Policy implementation and policy instruments: The underdeveloped dimensions of the four “political” American policy process theories. A Western European perspective
Full text linkThe fifth edition of “Theories of the Policy Process” represents a further step in consolidating these theories. However, four of them—Advocacy Coalition Framework, Multiple Streams Framework, Narrative Policy Framework, and Punctuated Equilibrium Theory—exhibit a few limitations in light of the characteristics of implementation and policy instruments due to their founding principles, the central role of pluralism and the will to abandon the original normativism of the policy sciences. Thus, these four theories seem to be framed to capture the politics of policy-making in a dynamic way rather than to understand how policies are able to deliver results to society. This affects the relevance and applicability of these theories from a Western European perspective but probably also from other cultural and geopolitical perspectives. After a discussion of these limitations, the paper outlines a number of suggestions for overcoming them
Legislative institutionalization and change: the case of Italian Parliament viewed from a diachronic perspective
No full textThis article gives a comprehensive account of a twenty years process of change in the role and the workings of Italian Parliament, which has underwent strong pressures to change. As a result, we are currently faced with a Parliament that is resisting external pressure in order to salvage its very being, but one whose institutionalized role in the political system is gradually weakening. It is an interesting case for institutional theory: one of both over-institutionalization and de-institutionalization; one of small, gradual changes but also of revolutionary, informal changes; a case of ambiguous, apparently contradictory variations in time (there is no before/after dichotomy here but a continuous process); of different sources of changes. Then, the case-study will be examined - focussing on the content and dynamics of the process, and on the sources of change and stability - and some general observations will be made regarding the concept of institutional and legislative change. What the analysis presented suggests is that institutional change is intrinsic to institutional and legislative development, and that its "time-scale" and scope depend on the history of the institution (and its institutionalized levels of autonomy and permeability), on its relationships with the external environment, and on its contingency
Policy design and state capacity in the COVID-19 emergency in Italy: if you are not prepared for the (un)expected, you can be only what you already are
Full text linkItaly was the first large epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Western world. Since the country has not had any serious experience with this kind of disease in recent decades, its response has been indicative of a first reaction to an (un)known and (un)expected event. At the same time, the Italian experience is an emblematic case of how a lack of specific preparedness measures drives a country to deal with this kind of crisis through a process in which the existing characteristics of the policy and political system, with all their pros and cons, prevail. This means that the existing country characteristics that affects policy design, state capacity, institutional arrangements and political games forge the process and content of the response. Based on this observation, this paper analyses the policy dynamics of the first four months of management of the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy, focusing on how the health and economic responses were designed and implemente
Federal Dynamics of Changing Governance Arrangements in Education: A Comparative Perspective on Australia, Canada and Germany
No full textEducation policy is a highly interesting field from the point of view of governance,
given the substantial changes that have been made throughout the world to the governance of such
policy over the last 30 years or so. Western governments in particular have made significant
changes in the governance arrangements of their education policy in order to achieve two fundamental
goals: increased efficiency and greater accountability. In this process, the role of governments
has changed but not diminished. This paper explores such developments by comparing the
trajectories of governance reforms in three federal countries (Australia, Canada and Germany).
What emerges is that the role of governments is key to all governance mixes modelled by the reform
processes in the three analysed countries, and that there is greater “national” coordination than
before, but also significant differences in the strategies adopted and in the content of reform, due to
the differing nature of such countries’ federal dynamic
How Decision-Makers Make the «Right Choice»? Instrument Selection between Legitimacy and Instrumentality: Evidence from Education Policy in Italy (1996-2016)
No full textIn recent years, an emerging stream of literature has focused on instrument selection
as a driving question in policy design and public policy studies. Hence, scholars have
devoted increasing attention to the political, institutional and cognitive dimensions
that influence decision-makers when choosing a policy instrument based on their
preferences and the contextual pressures. On this issue, a recent typology assumes
that two main factors determine the process and assessment of instrument selection:
legitimacy and instrumentality. Given the boundaries created by how decisionmakers
perceive these two dimensions, decision-makers can show only four selection
patterns: hybridization, stratification, contamination or routinisation. The article
aims to assess these four patterns by applying them to a diachronic analysis of instrument
selection in Italian education policy for the 20-year period from 1994 to
2016
When and why high civil servants demand information from interest groups in policymaking. A Southern European perspective
No full textStudying how public administrations proactively search for information from interest groups provides a new perspective for a better understanding of how bureaucratic policymaking works and how civil servants interact with interest groups. Building on data collected through an online survey submitted to approximately 700 high-level public servants in Greece, Italy and Portugal, this paper investigates whether and how organisational and individual policy analytical capacities (dis)incentivise top officials’ solicitation and use of information provided by interest groups in policymaking. The emerging evidence is counter-intuitive: those who seek information from interest groups most frequently are the most competent top officials in the least (individually perceived) competent areas of public administration. Thus, focusing on policy analytical capacities could be very useful for understanding administrative behaviour
The Fate of Political Scientists in Europe. From Myth to Action
No full textThis open access book offers a systematic survey of the attitudes and values of European political scientists. It builds a structural interpretation based on empirical data, as well as offering reflections on the future structure of the discipline. In the middle of a delicate phase of changes marked by the effects of pandemic and the war in Ukraine, we need to pay attention to the factors that are affecting not only the ‘objects’ of Political Science as a discipline but also its interactions with the world around it.
First, this book asks to what extent the work of European political scientists is impacted by the current change. Second, their attitudes and predisposition about the future goals of the discipline are analysed. In the final chapter, the authors seek to understand to what extent a diffuse but still not completely institutionalized academic discipline will be able to produce a comprehensive impact around the European society, in order to be more visible and effective in policy making and policy processes
Between short-term and medium-to-long-term responses: mapping the impact of COVID-19 on Italian universities
No full textThis paper presents an empirical analysis that maps the short-term and middle-to-long-term responses of Italian universities to the COVID-19 crisis by focussing on teaching activities. A representative sample of eighteen public universities was analysed to evaluate how they planned their teaching activities for the 2020–21 and 2021/2022 academic years and whether and how the pandemic pushed them to change their strategic plans for the following year. Based on a specific survey, an in-depth analysis of documents, and interviews, the findings reveal very similar short-term responses but three different types of medium-to-long-term responses: rebounding, proactive, and innovative. This empirical evidence indicates that scholars in higher education should heed the ways in which universities react and adapt in turbulent times when they have to make decisions under conditions of high uncertainty and recognize when crises can also become opportunities for change
Le politiche di istruzione superiore
No full textPresentazione delle principali linee analitiche delle politiche di istruzione superiore in prospettiva comparat
Controversial issues in crisis management. Bridging public policy and crisis management to better understand and address crises
Full text linkThe current body of multidisciplinary literature on crisis management still has some unresolved problems. This paper focuses on the following four “controversial issues” in dealing with crises: the usefulness of emergency plans; early signal detection; decision-making amid high uncertainty; and the centralization/decentralization dilemma. The paper first presents the various, contradictory dimensions of these controversial issues, drawing on different strands of organization research, public policy theory, and crisis management studies. Next, these controversial issues are analyzed through the lens of public policy research, drawing specifically on the literature on policy robustness and policy capacities. This theoretical application shows how controversial issues can be framed differently and thus overcome—at least from an analytical and theoretical perspective—confirming that a bridge between crisis management and public policy can be very fruitful in improving our understanding of how crises can be addressed
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