73220 - Local Public Services Policies

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, students are expected to know the various options and policy instruments for the management and delivery of local public services; they will be able to analyse and understand the governance mechanisms typical of the various organisational arrangements, and in particular the role played by local governments in the selection of management models, in the establishment of public-private relations, and in the promotion of mechanisms of democratic control and accountability; they will also be able to critically reflect upon possible innovations for the improvement of such services.

Course contents

The course will offer an overview of the organizational solutions and policy instruments currently available for public administrations to manage and deliver local public services, as well as their effects on local governance and territorial representation. The Italian case will receive special attention, but its specificity will be confronted with other European experiences.

The first part of the course (20 hours) will be devoted to a general and conceptual introduction to public services, to the analysis of the national legal frameworks and policy legacies, as well as to an in-depth discussion of the organizational solutions available to local governments in Italy and abroad (direct management, private-law companies fully or partially owned by municipalities, institutional public-private partnership, concession to private operators, intermunicipal cooperation, coproduction).

The second part (20 hours) will concentrate instead on the analysis of the specific organizational solutions used by local governments in two domains: personal social services and waste management. Special attention will be paid to the circular economy approach and the innovations it entails.

Specific case studies will be examined and discussed in order to better understand the influence of contextual factors on local governments' choices, as well as to grasp the complexity of regulation and control mechanisms once applied in the local governance framework.

Readings/Bibliography

• · M. Bianco e P. Sestito (a cura di), I servizi pubblici locali, (solo Introduzione e capitoli 1 e 2), Bologna, Il Mulino 2010.

  · G. Citroni, M. Cerruto e C. Dallara, Il «contracting out» come problema di organizzazione, amministrazione e policy, in Amministrare, n. 3/2017, pp. 373-403.

  · S. Profeti, A. Prontera e S. Ravazzi, Una mappa delle fonti per l'analisi della contrattualizzazione nei Comuni, in Amministrare, n. 3/2017, pp. 339-372.

  · G. Citroni, Governo S.p.a. Pubblico e privato nelle società partecipate degli enti locali, in Rivista Italiana di Scienza politica, n. 1/2009, pp. 87-112.

  · G. Citroni, A. Lippi e S. Profeti, Politica e politiche delle società partecipate. Le aziende dei comuni come unità di analisi della democrazia locale, in Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica, n. 1/2013, pp. 29-55.

  · F. Becchis, Le fatiche del regolatore: fattori di debolezza nella regolazione dei servizi pubblici locali, in Economia Pubblica, n. 1/2003, pp. 103-121.

  · T. Nabatchi, A. Sancino e M. Scilla (2017), Varieties of Participation in Public Services: The Who, When, and What of Coproduction, in Public Administration Review, vol. 77, n.5, pp. 766–776.

  · S. Profeti e V. Tarditi (2019), "Le pratiche collaborative per la co-produzione di beni e servizi: quale ruolo per gli Enti locali?", in Le Istituzioni del Federalismo, n. 4/2019.

  · G. Bel & M. Casula (2024), Re-organizing the service-delivery machine in a “post-NPM” era: a shopping-basket approach?, in Public Management Review, DOI: 10.1080/14719037.2024.2315569 [https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2024.2315569]

  · S. Neri (2020), Servizi di welfare e Comuni. Nuove politiche e trasformazioni organizzative, Bologna, Il Mulino (solo capitolo 1)

  · Campomori, M. & Casula, M. (2023), How to frame the governance dimension of social innovation: theoretical considerations and empirical evidence, in “Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research”, 36:2, 171-189.

  · R. Bazurli, F. Campomori, M. Casula, Shelter from the Storm: «Virtuous» Systems of Urban Asylum Governance Coping with Italy’s Immigration Crackdown, in "Politiche Sociali, Social Policies", 2/2020, pp. 201-224.

  · Campomori F, Casula M. Institutionalizing innovation in welfare local services through co-production: toward a Neo-Weberian State?, in “Italian Political Science Review/Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica”, 2022;52(3):313-327.

  · G. Citroni e A. Lippi, Pubblico e privato nella governance dei rifiuti in Italia, in Rivista Italiana di Politiche Pubbliche n. 1/2009, pp. 71-108.

  · L. Gherardi, "Perché parlare di economia circolare?", in Equilibri n. 1/2019, pp. 61-68.

  · M. Frey, "Politiche pubbliche per incentivare l’economia circolare", in Equilibri n.1/2019, pp. 110-115.

  · G. Pavani, S. Profeti e C. Tubertini (2023), Le città collaborative ed ecosostenibili, Bologna, Il Mulino (solo capitolo 3)

  · S. Bolgherini, C. Dallara e S. Profeti (2019), A shallow rationalisation? 'Merger mania' and side-effects in the reorganisation of public-service delivery, in Contemporary Italian Politics, n.2/2019, pp. 112-136.

All chapters and journals articles will be collected and made available on virtuale.unibo at the beginning of the course.

Teaching methods

Lessons of the teacher, as well as in-class seminars and teamworks on specific case studies. Class attendance is strongly recommended.

Assessment methods

The exam is written. Three open-ended questions will aim at testing student's knowledge of the key concepts and information explained during the course, and their capacity to critically discuss the various topics learned.

Evaluation grid:

18-22: sufficient preparation and ability to analyse, sufficient knowledge of the topics covered by the course, formulation of answers in correct language;
23-26: technically adequate preparation and ability to analyse, good knowledge of the topics covered by the course, adequate knowledge of specific terminology
27-29: very good preparation and ability to analyse, thorough knowledge of the topics covered by the course, mastering of specific terminology;
30-30L: excellent preparation and ability to analyse, in-depth knowledge of the topics covered by the course, ability to integrate answers with own knowledge and elaboration, mastering of specific terminology.

Depending on the class numbers, some supplementary evaluation methods - based on teamwork or individual papers - might be agreed with students regularly attending class.

Teaching tools

Powerpoint presentations (available before each class); videos; newspaper articles.

Office hours

See the website of Stefania Profeti

See the website of Mattia Casula