93465 - GOVERNANCE E POLITICHE PUBBLICHE

Learning outcomes

L’insegnamento intende fornire una conoscenza avanzata dei più importanti approcci allo studio delle politiche pubbliche, con particolare attenzione all’analisi dei processi decisionali, degli assetti interorganizzativi, delle relazioni tra diversi livelli istituzionali, e dei rapporti tra attori pubblici e privati. Al termine del corso, lo studente sarà in grado di: •identificare e distinguere le principali tradizioni di ricerca nell’analisi delle politiche pubbliche e nello studio delle dinamiche di governance ai diversi livelli; •analizzare criticamente i processi decisionali che si sviluppano attorno alla ricerca di soluzioni a problemi di rilevanza collettiva; •contestualizzare i problemi e le criticità del settore pubblico in un confronto con il settore privato.

Course contents

The course aims to provide the theoretical, conceptual and methodological tools for analysing the production of public policies in contemporary societies and for interpreting their change, with particular reference to the networks of public and private actors involved in decision-making processes.


The first part of the course will discuss the main analytical perspectives for the study and interpretation of policy decisions and the classifications useful for the analysis of governance structures (inter-institutional, public-private, multi-level). The question of the actors' stakes and the resources available to them will be addressed, as well as the configurations that can emerge in the course of decision-making processes. Special attention will be paid to the characteristics of the decision-making context and how they can influence the actors' strategies and interactions.


The second part of the course will be devoted to an in-depth examination of the characteristics, limitations and opportunities of different governance configurations. The different forms (inter-institutional, public-private and multi-level) will be framed and discussed with the help of practical cases (e.g. health policy, pandemic management, cohesion policy, PNRR, urban policies etc...) drawn from recent research on the Italian case.

Readings/Bibliography

Compulsory readings

B. Dente, Le decisioni di policy, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2011 (chapters 1,3,4,5,6 and 7)

Mandatory readings IN ADDITION TO THE TEXTBOOK (available in electronic format on Virtuale.unibo.it)

Mayntz R. (1999), “La teoria della governance. Sfide e prospettive”, inRivista Italiana di Scienza Politica, n. 1, pp. 3-21.

Profeti, S. (2011), "Governance", in M. Almagisti e D. Piana (a cura di),Le parole chiave della politica italiana, ROMA, Carocci.

Baldi B. and Profeti S. (2022), "Le regioni nel sistema politico: venti splendide cinquantenni?"in:Il sistema politico italiano. Cittadini, attori e istituzioni, Milano, Mondadori Università.

S. Iommi (2017), Associazionismo e fusioni di Comuni Punti di forza e criticità delle politiche di incentivo, IRPET Luglio 2017

Hodge, G. and Greve, C. (2007), "Public – Private Partnerships: An InternationalPerformance Review", inPublic Administration Review.

Linder, S. (1999), "Coming to Terms with the Public-Private Partnership", inAmerican Behavioral Scientist.

Galanti M.T. e Lippi A. (2018), “Il policy advice tra relazioni e forme di legittimazione, inRivista Italiana di Politiche Pubbliche, n. 3.

Pritoni A. (2019),Politica e interessi. Il lobbying nelle democrazie contemporanee, Bologna, Il Mulino (solo cap. 1)

Profeti, S. e Baldi, B. (2021), Le regioni italiane e il PNRR : la (vana) ricerca di canali d’accesso all’agenda, «RIVISTA ITALIANA DI POLITICHE PUBBLICHE», n. 3

Di Mascio F., Natalini A. e Profeti S. (2024), "Upstream and downstream implementation arrangements in two-level games",REVIEW OF POLICY RESEARCH, early view (2 January 2024)

F. Toth (2020), “Le politiche sanitarie: un gioco strategico”, in G. Capano e A. Natalini (a cura di), Le politiche pubbliche in Italia, Bologna, Il Mulino.

Di Giulio, M. and Toth, F. (2014), "I gruppi di interesse in sanità", inRivista Italiana di Politiche Pubbliche, n. 3.

F. Toth (2016), “Non solo Bismarck contro Beveridge: sette modelli di sistema sanitario”, in Rivista Italiana di Politiche Pubbliche, n. 2.

Galanti M.T. e Saracino B. (2021), “Inside the Italian Covid-19 task forces”, inContemporary Italian Politics, vol. 13 n. 2, pp. 275-291

S. Profeti e V. Tarditi (2019), “Le pratiche collaborative per la co-produzione di beni e servizi: quale ruolo per gli Enti locali?”, LE ISTITUZIONI DEL FEDERALISMO, n. 4

N.B. As this course is hosted within a Master's degree, it is intended to be an advanced course in public policy analysis, and therefore presumes a basic knowledge of the main concepts of the discipline. For those who have not already taken a basic course in public policy during their three-year degree studies, independent reading of the following text is strongly recommended:

Luigi Bobbio, Gianfranco Pomatto, Stefania Ravazzi, Le politiche pubbliche. Problemi, soluzioni, incertezze, conflitti, Mondadori, 2017.

Teaching methods

The course includes both lectures and collective discussion of the topics covered in class, as well as (particularly in the second part) exercises and teamwork under the guidance of the teacher.

Class attendance is strongly recommended.

Assessment methods

The exam is written. It consists of 4 open-ended questions and it lasts max 60 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.

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