30350 - Public administration and public policy analysis

Learning outcomes

Students will be able to:

- know the main theoretical perspective which are useful to examine administrative reforms and welfare reforms in comparative perspective in the last decades;

- master the most modern tools and techniques to evaluate public bureaucracies performance and results;

-  deeply analyse the main disfunctions of the public sector with respect to the private one;

-  link and examine the characteristics of bureaucratic arrangements in the different national contexts with public policies which are implemented.

Course contents

The course aims at providing students with an appropriate theoretical, conceptual and methodological background to analyse and understand policy making processes in contemporary public administrations. A first part will be devoted to discussing the main waves of reform that affected the Weberian bureaucracy in the last decades (i.e. New Public Management, Post New Public Management); then, drawing upon both the literature and some empirical case studies, the main analytical and classificatory approaches for the analysis of public policies will be examined in detail, with a special focus on policy types, policy tools, decisional processes and policy change.

Readings/Bibliography

Handbook

L. Bobbio, G. Pomatto e S. Ravazzi (2017), Le politiche pubbliche. Problemi, soluzioni, incertezze e conflitti, Milano, Mondadori. Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9.

Other compulsory readings

I. Begg (2009), "The Future of Cohesion Policy in Richer Regions", DG Regio Working paper n.3/2009, pp. 1-15. 

M. Casula e F. Toth (2019), “Come i gruppi di interesse scelgono il campo di battaglia: il caso del decreto Lorenzin sui vaccini”, in Rivista Italiana di Politiche Pubbliche, n. 2/2019, pp. 277 – 306 

C. Hood (1991), "A public management for all seasons?", in Public Administration, n. 69, pp. 3-19.

C. Pollitt e G. Bouckaert (2017), "Comparative public management reform: an introduction to the key debates", in C. Pollitt e G. Bouckaert (a cura di) Public Management Reform. A Comparative Analysis—Into the Age of Austerity, Oxford University Press, pp. 1-30.

F. Raniolo (2008), “La prospettiva burocratica”, e “Oltre la burocrazia legale-razionale”, in R. D’Amico (a cura di), L’analisi della pubblica amministrazione. Teorie, concetti e metodi, vol. II, Milano, FrancoAngeli, pp. 41-53, 69-93.

N. Zahariadis (1999), “Ambiguity, Time and Multiple Streams”, in P. Sabatier (a cura di), Theories of the Policy Process, Boulder, Westview, pp. 73-93.

All compulsory readings (with the exception of the handbook) will be collected and made available to students through the IOL platform.

Teaching methods

Being included in a postgraduate program, the course will be mainly centered on students' direct participation and involvement. Students should read the material suggested by the teachers before each class, in order to actively participate in the discussion.

Each thematic unit will be summed up and regularly made available on the IOL platform. Students will thus be able to download class material every week.

Class attendance is strongly recommended.

Assessment methods

The exam is written. It consists of 5 open-ended questions and it lasts max 75 minutes. Course program is the same independently of class attendance.

Evaluation will take into account: a) the knowledge of course topics; b) the capacity to use properly the methodological and theoretical instruments presented during the course; c) the ability to master an appropriate scientific language with reference to social sciences in general and public policies in particular.

Teaching tools

Powerpoint presentations; Videos; Newspaper articles.

Office hours

See the website of Federico Toth

See the website of Stefania Profeti