93464 - AMMINISTRAZIONI PUBBLICHE COMPARATE

Learning outcomes

Al termine del corso lo studente conosce gli strumenti teorici e analitici di base per comprendere e interpretare le principali tappe evolutive delle pubbliche amministrazioni intese sia come organizzazioni complesse sia come attori rilevanti dei processi decisionali pubblici e dei sistemi politici contemporanei. Sa esaminare, anche in prospettiva comparata, le principali caratteristiche strutturali e di funzionamento delle burocrazie appartenenti ai diversi comparti e ai diversi livelli territoriali, insieme ai più recenti provvedimenti di riforma.

Course contents

The course is organized in lectures and seminars, as detailed in the following program. Lectures (16 hours) aim to introduce students to the core tenets of the discipline. Seminars (12 hours) aim to provide occasions for in-depth discussions of class materials and exercises. For the seminar section of the course, students will be divided in two groups according to their preferences: both groups will do the seminar in classroom (12 hours), for a total of 28 hours for each student. Students are required to carefully read the assigned material before the session and - in the case of seminars - active participation through presentations of existing scholarship and case studies will also be expected. 

The course aims to provide students with conceptual, theoretical and methodological tools on public administrations and their functioning.

The lectures deal with the following topics

- The concept of public administration

- The evolution of public administration

- The structure of public administration in the main liberal-democratic systems

- Politics and public administration

- Trajectories of administrative reforms: New Public Management

- Beyond New Public Management: administrative reforms in a comparative key

- The reaction of administrative systems to the crisis of the first decade of the 21st century

The second part of the course will be held in seminar mode: students are invited to read the material that will be assigned to them, to present part of the readings and to prepare written papers.

The topics covered in the seminar lessons are:

1. Ministries

2. The judicial system

3. The regions

4. Local authorities

5. The health system

6. The school system

Readings/Bibliography

For all students

1)

Capano, G. and E. Gualmini (2011) Le pubbliche amministrazioni in Italia, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2a edizione, capp. I, II.

2)

Peters, B. G. (1999) La pubblica amministrazione, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2a edizione, capp. VI, VII,

3)

Gualmini E. (2011) L’amministrazione nelle democrazie contemporanee, 5a edizione, capp. I, II, III, IV.

Or:

Gualmini E. (2008) “Restructuring Weberian Bureaucracy: Comparing Managerial Reforms in Europe and The United States” in Public Administration, Vol. 86, No. 1, pp. 75-94.

4) Hood, C. (1991) “A Public Management for all Seasons?”, in Public Administration, Vol. 69, No. 1, pp. 3-19.

5) Pollitt, C. and G. Bouckaert (2017) “Comparative Public Management Reform: an Introduction to the Key Debates” in Id. Public Management Reform: a Comparative analysis into the Age of Austerity, Oxford, Oxford University Press, pp. 1-30.

For students who do not attend classes:

6) One of the following texts:

- Di Mascio, F. e A. Natalini (2018) Oltre il New Public Management, Roma, Carocci.

- Vandelli, L. (2018) Il sistema delle autonomie locali, Bologna, Il Mulino.

- Bolgherini, S. M. Casula e M. Marotta (2018) Il dilemma del riordino, Bologna, Il Mulino.

- Bolgherini, S e C. Dallara (2016) La retorica della razionalizzazione. Il settore pubblico italiano negli anni dell’austerity, Bologna, Misure e materiali di ricerca dell’Istituto Cattaneo.

Toth, F. (2014) La sanità in Italia, Bologna, Il Mulino

Teaching methods

The course is structured in two parts: in the first part there are lectures; the second part takes place in a seminar mode.

Assessment methods

Participation in class discussion:10%

Oral presentation: 10%

Written paper: 20%

Oral exam: 60% 

Office hours

See the website of Michele Sapignoli

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