Public good provision has always been a central role of government, but it is also an important element in political competition. The recent financial difficulties of public authorities have undermined their capacity to invest in public goods, requiring politicians to search for new ways to finance those investments. A solution widely adopted is the Public-Private Partnership, an instrument designed to provide more valuable public goods thanks to efficiency gains coming from bundling building and operating phases in a single contract, but that has often resulted in resounding failures. The most common explanation for this lack of results is that PPP are often adopted not for efficiency purposes but to avoid financial constraints. We build a model to analyze the incentives for politicians to use PPP for pork barrel politics in presence of a binding budget constraint, when they have a better ability to look forward than their voters, and are limited in their possibility to stay in charge. We then release the assumption of homogeneous income among voters, and analyze how this modifies politician's incentives to pander.
The article casts the light on how and to what extent the recent EU legislative developments can uphold the thesis that would identify cybersecurity as a public good, in particular, taking into account systems' robustness. The doctrine of the public good, which is typically an economic concept, in its normative dimension reveals a framework of shared responsibilities, in view of the common interest in having a satisfactory level of security of the information systems at the basis of our societies. Improving cybersecurity is essential, on the one hand, to trust and benefit from innovation, connectivity and automation; on the other hand, for safeguarding fundamental rights and freedoms, including the rights to privacy and to the protection of personal data, and the freedom of expression and information. Against this background, the new strategy of the European Commission on cybersecurity, the proposal for an NIS 2.0 Directive and, at a lower level of abstraction, the inclusion of minimum cybersecurity requirements for connected devices in the Directives and Regulations of the "New Legislative Framework" (NLF), testify the firm will of the Commission to outline a clear, coherent and inclusive regulatory framework, in order to increase the global level of security within the Union.
The book collects the contributions of a group of scholars, with different scientific backgrounds, on the issue of the relationship between taxation, solidarity and citizenship within the EU. The common thread linking them is the inescapability of the tax duty in a community of rights and the incompleteness of the European system, which performs important functions of collective interest without claiming any cost for those who use it. What emerges is the need for a genuine EU own tax, which, without the intermediary of the Member States, would burden the users of European public goods, increasing awareness of the social value of the EU, amplifying its solidarity dimension, and outlining a new concept of citizenship. In short, I pay, therefore I am (European citizen).
The article analyses the current management model of the marine protected area of the Parco Sommerso di Gaiola, in order to analyse its criticalities and, more generally, to highlight the limits of the Italian legislation for the protection of marine protected areas. From the study emerges, in fact, the need for a regulatory reorganization of the matter, aimed at restoring consistency to the legal framework of protection of marine protected areas, in accordance with the purposes of environmental protection, the objectives assumed at international and European level and the interests of the community related to the enjoyment of a public good such as the sea. ; Il contributo analizza l'attuale modello di gestione dell'area marina protetta del Parco Sommerso di Gaiola, allo scopo di analizzarne le criticità e, più in generale, di evidenziare i limiti della normativa italiana di tutela delle aree marine protette. Dallo studio emerge, infatti, la necessità di un riassetto normativo della materia, volto a ridare coerenza al quadro giuridico di salvaguardia delle aree marine protette, nel rispetto degli scopi di tutela ambientale, degli obiettivi assunti a livello internazionale ed europeo e degli interessi della collettività connessi al godimento di un bene pubblico quale il mare.
The theme of solidarity between European Union (EU) member states lies at the heart of the European integration process itself, in the context of an ongoing tension between the renunciation of national sovereignty, driven by a drive for cooperation, and the maintenance of prerogatives of strategic interest to states. In fact, the EU was born from the decision of its members to pool selected aspects of their sovereignty, in a process whose evolution is expressed both in the choice of community policies and in the availability and methods of financing those policies. These are two sides of the same coin, that of the Community budget, which is the operational instrument that supports and accompanies the major steps in the EU's evolutionary process. Indeed, since the 1980s, the Community budget has represented the instrument capable of holding together on the one hand the process of economic liberalisation and on the other the objective of social integration between countries that had different starting conditions. However, cooperation and solidarity are aspects that need to be strengthened today, albeit in new dimensions. The financial crisis has brought about a new acceleration in the coordination of national fiscal policies, without, however, generating the missing piece to European economic policy, namely an autonomous fiscal capacity, endowed with taxation power, on which a full fiscal union would be based.
The provision of public goods is an important problem in economics and the social sciences. It is often claimed that this problem has the structure of the well-known Prisoner's Dilemma so that rational and self-interested individuals would not be able to provide any public good by spontaneous cooperation. In this paper, we argue that this pessimistic view of the possibility spontaneous cooperation is largely unjustified, since the game theoretic analysis of public goods shows how their voluntary provision is indeed feasible in a number of circumstances. We conclude by considering the implications of the game theoretic approach to the problem of public goods for political philosophy and, in particular, for the possibility of "ordered anarchy" as defended in the works of Anthony de Jasay.
This article explores the possibility of applying the tools of economic analysis of law, which are traditionally used in the field of private law, to public law as well. The first part investigates constitutional law issues, addressed by prevailing approaches through the social contract framework, by applying an agreement model to a general public good such as the State. This model is typically based on games with features of the 'prisoner's dilemma.' Through the analysis of constitutional preferences that may transform such dilemma in a game with full cooperation equilibrium, two types of preferences are compared: 'utilitarian based on impartiality principle' & 'rawlsian based on difference principle'; it is shown that this second type better facilitates the constitutional agreement. With the objective of utilizing more easily economic theory tools, the article then attempts to apply the distinction between private & public good to that between private & public rights. In particular, both public goods & public rights can be assimilated as they are non-excludable & non-transferable through exchanges or contracts. Moreover, an attempt is made to define an economic counterpart to the juridical notion of 'general interest' which is the basis for those norms in the fields of public & administrative law envisaging the direct intervention of the State to remedy market failures, both at constitutional & sub-constitutional level. Hence the question of what are the most efficient legal procedures to solve such problems is addressed. Using above all the case of negative externalities related to private goods, the article discusses in particular when it is more efficient to resort to administrative interventions rather than judicial ones; or otherwise allowing such problems to be dealt with through private bargaining between injured & injurers. In this respect the latest literature of economic analysis of law often favors private bargaining in the spirit of Coase's thinking. However, it is here put forward that in terms of cost-benefit analysis economic theory reaches much less radical conclusions often supporting the higher efficiency of legal rules & administrative types of intervention. In the final part of the article, different legal systems (minimal, neoliberal, welfarist) are compared by way of analyzing their rationale & limitations from an efficiency point of view. Adapted from the source document.
Le linee di costa sono da sempre il luogo fisico a maggiore gradiente di immaterialità, a più alta densità di valore esperienziale, a più elevata tensione localizzativa. Con specifico riferimento all'uso dei litorali, alla loro conservazione e valorizzazione, all'accesso a essi, in quanto commons e heritage-goods, l'articolo avanza alcune considerazioni generali che richiamano temi di pianificazione ampi e profonde questioni valutative. Lo studio proposto intende indicare alcune componenti strutturali (in senso paesaggistico), caratteristiche salienti (in senso assiologico) e potenzialità (in senso progettuale) del patrimonio costiero. Il lavoro prende spunto dall'osservazione di alcuni casi topici di appropriazione e colonizzazione, sottovalutazione delle concessioni, sovra-sfruttamento, impatto paesaggistico e deprivazione dell'uso pubblico d'importanti aree costiere in Sicilia. Il contributo intende mostrare i limiti dell'approccio compensativo di matrice neoclassica, basato sul modello alla Coase e pigouviano, dell'internalizzazione delle esternalità a mezzo di tasse e incentivi, e la necessità di superare un approccio mercantile alla luce di un modello di tipo strategico e contemporaneamente basato sulla valorizzazione delle identità locali. ; The Sicilian coastal heritage is currently being affected by the environmental pressure and the intensive exploitation for bathing and tourist accommodation purposes. The contribution indicates the main dimensions of this phenomenon through information disaggregated by province, and provides some examples of appropriation of the physical support and the landscape features of the shores where bathing is permitted. In front of the effects of strong and even social polarization (very few people own much and a lot of people own little or nothing) due to the impoverishment of public goods and the consequent impairment of territorial democracy, we observe the impasse of the regulatory development on the state property concession issue, and the inertia of the local administrations concerning the formation of the Plans of Use of the coasts.
L'agricoltura periurbana multifunzionale è considerata una strategia efficace per arginare il dilagare dell'ur- banizzazione nelle aree rurali, contrastare la pressione urbana e al contempo rendere le città più abitabili e vitali. Dalla prospettiva urbana, le aree agricole intercluse sono soggette a maggiori pressioni da parte del mercato immobiliare e sebbene assolvano molteplici funzioni nei riguardi della città, non sempre sono riconosciute come infrastruttura naturale d'interesse pubblico, come bene comune da tutelare in quanto paesaggio agro-urbano e da collegare a sistemi ambientali più ampi. L'articolo esplora il concetto di agricoltura multifunzionale e lo applica ad un sistema di aree che, nonostante la loro iscrizione urbana, testimoniano il residuo paesaggio agricolo produttivo nella Piana dei colli a Palermo. Questo sistema agricolo, che è gravemente minacciato da nuova edificazione, circonda un'area di edilizia pubblica a rischio di esclusione sociale e con elevato deficit di servizi pubblici. La prossimità a un quartiere confinato costituisce motivo di riflessione non solo sulla governance delle aree agricole incluse nella città, ma anche sul ruolo strategico che l'agricoltura urbana multifunziona- le potrebbe assolvere per lo sviluppo economico e sociale, attivando piani e politiche pubbliche integrati. Questo implica l'interazione tra istituzioni e abitanti e di conseguenza richiede un reale spazio politico per pratiche partecipative. ; Multifunctional periurban agriculture is considered an effective strategy to curb the spread of urbanization in rural areas and to counter the urban pressure, while at the same time making towns more liveable and vital. From the urban point of view, agricultural areas included in the city are subject to greater pressure by the real estate market; although they perform multiple functions for the city, they are not always recognized as natural infrastructure of public interest, as a common good that has to be protected as agro-urban landscape and connected with larger environmental systems. The paper explores the concept of multifunctional agriculture and applies it to a system of areas that, despite their urban inscription, represent the residual heritage of the agricultural productive landscape of the Piana dei colli in Palermo. This agricultural system is seriously threatened by new construction and is surrounding an area of public housing at risk of social exclusion and severe lack of public services. The proximity to a segregated neighbourhood is cause of reflection not only on the governance of agricultural areas included in the city, but also on the strategic role that multifunctional urban agricultu- recouldplayforeconomicandsocialdevelopmentbyactivatingintegratedpublicpoliciesand plans.Thisimpliesanin- teraction between institutions and inhabitants and, consequently, requires a real political space for participatory practices.
Right to good administration in European law represent an umbrella principle that involves many rights for individuals dealing with public institutions and bodies. Article 41 of the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union includes in its non-exhaustive enumeration the duty to take a decision in a reasonable time limit. As it is well known, "good" decision is a prompt and certain decision and a good administration is an institution that timely respond to the applications of its citizens. Leaving a person in the ignorance on the dossier outcome is a typical device of supremacy of one subject over the other. To this end, this paper aims to analyze the implementation of the right to good administration in Italian legislation with regards to one of its most significant element: the right to have a timely decision from public administration. Despite the various remedies provided in different stages by Italian legislator against administrative inaction, mostly through the i.e. tacit consent institute, nonetheless when discretionary measures are involved this mechanism seems not in line with the fundamental right to good administration that instead requires for persons affected by the administration"s activities to have an express act in due time. A written, explicit measure definitively rests the best way to vanish doubts about the existence of a decision and uncertainties around its motivations. ; Right to good administration in European law represent an umbrella principle that involves many rights for individuals dealing with public institutions and bodies. Article 41 of the Charter of fundamental rights of the European Union includes in its non-exhaustive enumeration the duty to take a decision in a reasonable time limit. As it is well known, "good" decision is a prompt and certain decision and a good administration is an institution that timely respond to the applications of its citizens. Leaving a person in the ignorance on the dossier outcome is a typical device of supremacy of one subject over the other. To this end, this paper aims to analyze the implementation of the right to good administration in Italian legislation with regards to one of its most significant element: the right to have a timely decision from public administration. Despite the various remedies provided in different stages by Italian legislator against administrative inaction, mostly through the i.e. tacit consent institute, nonetheless when discretionary measures are involved this mechanism seems not in line with the fundamental right to good administration that instead requires for persons affected by the administration"s activities to have an express act in due time. A written, explicit measure definitively rests the best way to vanish doubts about the existence of a decision and uncertainties around its motivations.
International audience ; The term e-procurement indicates a set of technologies, procedures, operations and organizational methods that allow the acquisition of goods or services online, thanks to the possibilities offered by the Internet and electronic commerce. Originally widespread in the private business sector, following the adaptation of the Italian PA to the prospects of e-government, this form of procurement of goods and services has entered the public sector. In the perspective of modernization of the Italian public administration, new technologies represent the key to the new public governance strategy for post-pandemic recovery. But this only if Italy will be able, in the next few years, to align itself with the digital reorganization of the public sector.
The paper takes advance of the analysis carried out in a previous work in this journal (Politica e amministrazione). Under that theoretical background, the author proposes two remedies, such as separate executive's bodies organs serving political representative form the rest of public administration and appoint the office only by merit and measure the performances of bureaucracy. In spite of this, Italian legislation issued a mechanism torpedoing KPI (Key Performance Indicators), by political omissions and recently reduced officials' responsibilities. ; Il lavoro muove da precedenti riflessioni sul rapporto tra politica e amministrazione. Se ne derivano alcune proposte – la separazione tra organi che sono a servizio della politica ed i restanti; la selezione per merito e la conferma in base ai risultati, per i secondi. Identificati i problemi della relazione, se ne mettono in luce le storture quanto alla misurazione della performance della burocrazia, a causa della mancata assunzione di responsabilità degli organi politici. Anche le recenti riforme, dirette a ridurre la responsabilità dei funzionari, non sembrano andare nella direzione corretta, perché la buona amministrazione deriva da funzionari capaci e non irresponsabili.
The article dwells on three main topics: access to knowledge, social well-being and the role of libraries in a "smart" society. With regard to the very first one, the author examines the educational attainment – and inadequate information literacy – in the adult population of Italy. The notion of common good, together with those of public good, private good, social good and merit good contribute to determine the concept of social well-being, and to introduce the idea of the library as a public service focused on access to knowledge – a public service that has to be included in the social welfare policy. With regard to the so called smart cities, in recent surveys among OECD member countries, Italy ranks lowest for reading and mathematics proficiency.For all these reasons public libraries must analyze their user's need in order to reposition themselves and their role in the society. ; L'articolo, riprendendo un contributo di Giovanni Di Domenico pubblicato su questa stessa rivista, si sofferma sui temi dell'accesso alla conoscenza, del benessere sociale e del ruolo delle biblioteche in una società "intelligente". Relativamente al primo punto vengono proposte alcune riflessioni sui livelli di istruzione nella popolazione italiana adulta e sulle carenze nel campo dell'information literacy. Il tema del benessere sociale viene affrontato a partire dalle definizioni di bene comune, bene pubblico, bene privato, bene sociale e bene meritorio, proponendo un'idea di biblioteca come servizio pubblico di accesso alla conoscenza, da collocare all'interno delle politiche del welfare. Parlando di smart cities, infine, viene ricordato come alcune recenti indagini ci collochino all'ultimo posto tra i paesi OCSE per quel che riguarda le competenze alfabetiche e matematiche.Ne deriva la necessità di un riposizionamento della biblioteca pubblica attraverso l'approfondimento dei bisogni degli utenti. A questo scopo si segnalano alcuni studi che insistono sul tema di una "biblioteconomia sociale" intesa come disciplina che contempli fra i propri obiettivi il benessere dell'individuo e l'impatto che su di esso può avere la frequentazione della biblioteca.
