Illegality, Enlightenment and Ambiguity: A Hot Italian Recipe

In: South European society & politics, Band 3, Heft 3, S. 43-82

Abstract

Discusses Italian immigration policy, attempting to identify public policy-making patterns. It is suggested that innovative measures addressed to low social strata, at least in Italy, often originate in benevolent illegal practices introduced by sympathetic civil servants & social workers, pressed & supported by voluntary sector associations, charities, & unions. Practices promoted by lobbying are, step by step, embodied in local administration & social services directives & circulars, & then diffused & standardized over the national territory by central government circulars. Senior public administrators & expert committees eventually filter & integrate these practices in the light of comparative policy studies & with a view to possible political outcomes; also they polish, adapt, & correct the practices to translate them into bills of law. Parliament discusses & amends them according to party & intraparty alignments. Any resulting legislation is the outcome of fights & compromises, although enlightenment (expert committees) & benevolence (low strata lobbying) remain in the final product. Legislation originating from benevolent illegal practice is, in turn, partially eroded by malevolent illegal practice, ie, by circulars & decrees illegally used in fields constitutionally protected by law. A remarkable share of the decision-making process takes place sheltered from party conflicts, parliamentary action, or public opinion. This sort of "extrapolitical" policy tends to be of greater significance when new party elites come to power, & lesser when the new elite becomes established. 4 Tables, 1 Figure, 41 Appendixes. Adapted from the source document.