Suchergebnisse

Abstract
This article analyses the Italian National Strategy for Inner Areas (NSIA) as a new policy for local development only partially linked to the European cohesion policy. It focuses on its innovative contents (vision, governance and methodology), and mainly on the transfer of innovation to lower levels of government and between local administrations. As an empirical study of policy transfer and policy innovation in a system of multilevel governance it shows an unexpected transfer of the NSIA methodology to another policy field: that of post-earthquake reconstruction in Central Italy. The article concludes by applying the typology of policy transfer developed in its first part to the analysis of the case-study as a whole.

- The article analyses the most recent reforms of Italian regionalism using the theory of competitive federalism as opposed to cooperative federalism. Although new competitive dynamics are developing with main reference to asymmetrical regionalism and fiscal federalism, the article shows the coexistence of competitive and cooperative institutional arrangements. Taking a comparative perspective the case of Italy portrays similarities to those of Germany and Spain: German cooperative federalism is more and more challenged by the developing of competitive dynamics between the Western and Eastern Länder as well as Spanish competitive regionalism is opening up to intergovernmental cooperation to assure policy coordination. As a whole the article provides an analytical framework to guide future empirical research.

Since the mid-1990s, Italy has made significant steps towards federalism, decentralizing political, fiscal and administrative powers, also by means of a major constitutional reform. Yet, 20 years after the beginning of this process, the country is experiencing problems in finalizing these reforms towards a stable federal architecture. This article examines Italy as a case of failed federalization. Adopting a long-term focus inspired by the 'gradual institutional change' approach, we argue that federalization has been trapped between a rather anomalous (and pathological) alliance between a persistent centralism, which prevailed when Italy was born as a state in 1861, and an ever-present strong tradition of localism. This approach allows us to show the very incremental nature of institutional change and to map changes and continuities along the 150 years of the Italian state, identifying both political and cultural factors that help to explain this unfulfilled journey towards federalism. Adapted from the source document.