SGI 2024 | Italy | Key Challenges

Key Challenges

Recent Governments Experts

SGI experts on Italy

Giliberto Capano

Giliberto Capano is Professor of Political Science and Public Policy. He has been (2003-2009) the Dean of Bologna University’s II Faculty of Political Sciences (located on the Forlì campus). He has been the Editor of the Rivista Italiana di Politiche Pubbliche (Italian Journal of Public Policy) and he is co-editor of Policy & Society. He has been member of the Executive Committee of the International Political Science Association (2009-2014) and the co-founder of the International Public Policy Association. Actually he is member of the Executive Committee of the European Consortium of Political Research. He has (co-)authored nine monographical studies and (co-)edited twelve books, while his work in English has been published in several books and in journals such as: Journal of Legislative Studies, Higher Education, Higher Education Policy, Higher Education Quarterly, Public Administration, Southern European Society and Politics, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, Journal of European Public Policy, Comparative Education Review, Policy and Society, Policy Sciences, European Political Science, European Policy Analysis, Public Policy and Administration; Journal of Public Policy; Regulation & Governance; Policy & Politics, Political Science Review.

Luca Pinto

Luca Pinto is associate professor of Political Science at the Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Bologna, Italy. He received his PhD and graduate studies from the University of Milan. His research interests include party competition, governments and legislative studies in general. On these topics he has published several contributions in books and international journals.

From 2011 to 2015 he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Bologna, working on a project on legislative behavior, parliamentary fluidity and political representation in Italy. In 2015 he moved to the Institute of Human and Social Sciences at the Scuola Normale Superiore (Florence, Italy) to work on a project on unconventional monetary policies of central banks. In 2018, he became an assistant professor of political science at the University of Bologna. He has been an assistant professor and lecturer at the University of Milan, the University of Bologna and the Free University of Bolzano. He spent time as a visiting student at MIT (USA) and as a visiting fellow at MZES (Germany).

Maurizio Cotta

Maurizio Cotta is professor of political science at the University of Siena and formerly president of the Italian Political Science Association. He was a visiting professor at the University of Texas at Austin, the European University Institute of Fiesole, the IEPs of Lille and Paris, the Central European University of Budapest, and the Minda de Günzburg Center for European Studies of Harvard University. His main areas of interest include the comparative study of political elites and political institutions, as well as Italian politics. He has authored or edited the following publications: Parliaments and Democratic Consolidation in Southern Europe (Pinter 1990), Party and Government (1996), The Nature of Party Government (Palgrave 2000), Parliamentary Representatives in Europe (Oxford University Press 2000), Democratic Representation. Diversity, Change and Convergence (Oxford University Press 2007), Political Institutions of Italy (Oxford University Press 2007), and Democracia, Partidos e Elites Politicas (Livros Horizonte 2008). He has coordinated the 6th Framework Programme Research project InTune (2005–2009).

César Colino (Coordinator)

César Colino is associate professor at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the Spanish National Distance-Learning University (UNED) in Madrid. He has taught at the University of Salamanca and the Autonomous University of Madrid and has been visiting researcher at the Max-Planck Institute for the Study of Society (MPIfG) in Cologne and Research Officer at the Institute for Research in Public Administration (FöV) in Speyer, Germany. His recent research and publications have addressed issues of comparative public policy and administration, comparative federalism, and constitutional reform in federations with a focus on the Spanish, German and Canadian federal systems. He has published in journals such as Policy & Politics; Comparative European Politics; Public Administration; Regional & Federal Studies; and Publius: The Journal of Federalism. He has recently published a book on comparative administration (in Spanish) Gobiernos y administraciones públicas en perspectiva comparada, Valencia: 2013 (with S. Parrado y J. Olmeda), and is the author of the forthcoming chapter “National and European patterns of public administration and governance,” in the Handbook of European Politics, José M. Magone ed. London: Routledge (with Eloísa del Pino).

Weaknesses persist
after pandemic

Italy has recovered relatively well from the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to strong family ties, high household savings rates, the resilience of small and medium-sized enterprises, and dynamic manufacturing and export-oriented sectors. Additionally, the expansionary macroeconomic policies pursued by the Conte and Draghi governments contributed significantly to this recovery. However, the process has not addressed the country’s persistent weaknesses, which remain a challenge in the current political climate marked by increased polarization and the new right-wing government that took office after the September 2023 general elections.

Italy faces two main types of challenges: policy and political.

Policy challenges:

Government and administrative reform: A comprehensive overhaul of government machinery and the relationship between central government and local authorities is necessary.

Improving education
and research

Economic and social reforms: Targeted economic reforms, sustainable social policies, and continued efforts to improve the quality of education and research are essential.

Strengthening civil
service capacities

Policy Implementation: Designing policies that allow for effective implementation and using evaluation as a central pillar are crucial. This includes extensive use of ex ante, in itinere, and ex post evaluations.

Public administration: Improving recruitment procedures for senior civil servants and strengthening the analytical capacity of public administrations at all levels is vital. A strong achievement orientation should characterize public administration.

Policy advice: Emphasizing strategic and innovative approaches to policymaking is needed.

Economic Intervention: Addressing financial instability with policies that promote dynamic growth, enhance competition, increase enterprise size and innovation, boost productivity, and ensure skilled employment is critical.

Refocusing debate on migrant integration

Immigration: Reorienting public debate on immigration to focus on effective integration and protection of immigrants’ rights is necessary.

Research and education: Increased funding and strategic reorientation of research and education are required.

North-South divide: Addressing the widening North-South divide concretely is imperative.

Implementing NRRP plan

The enormous NRRP (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) that Italy aims to implement by 2026 focuses on these challenges and more. Successful and effective implementation of the NRRP is crucial for overcoming the country’s structural socioeconomic weaknesses and achieving the SDGs. Monitoring the outcomes closely in the coming years is essential.

Political challenges:

Halting trend toward polarization

The primary political challenge is to halt the trend toward polarization, which hinders commitment to sustainable policies. The current prime minister’s ability and willingness to steer her party toward more moderate positions are crucial. Similar moderation is required from other parties like the Northern League and M5Stars.

Crucial institutional reforms

Another significant challenge is the government’s approach to two crucial institutional reforms: differentiated regionalism and the potential presidentialization of the political system, central to the prime minister’s party’s electoral manifesto. Poorly designed interventions could negatively impact Italy’s ability to address its structural problems.

Shift toward
centripetal system

Without a shift toward a more centripetal political system, Italy will struggle to play a constructive role in the EU and meet the requirements of the new Stability and Growth Pact.