The chapter analyses the empirical application of Public Governance in the context of the social services. This area is characterised by the number and the fragmentation of actors (public, profit, non-profit organisations, etc.), by the variability of their relationships, by the dynamic boundaries of the network and the difficulties of defining a common vision of “public interest”. In Italy, Law 328/00 establishes a Public Governance model aimed at coordinating the responsibilities among a plethora of key actors involved, in particular, third sector organisations, as co-protagonists of planning actions for managing and providing social services. The aim of this chapter is to answer the following question: What are the effects of the Italian legislation and the actual situation on the relationship and the cooperation between local public authorities and third sector organisations (social cooperatives, voluntary associations, foundations, social enterprises, etc.) in order to safeguard the quality of social services? The study intends to address the reform laws of social service systems in two regions, respectively, the Lombardy Region (Regional Law 3/2008 and the Emilia Romagna Region (Regional Law 3/2003), because they represent advanced welfare systems in the country and carry different policy styles. Finally, the study aims at analysing the implementation of Law 328/00 (and subsequent regional laws) ten years after its introduction, and subsequently at establishing the effective application of the Public Governance paradigm. The survey used involved about 3,500 non-profit organisations (social cooperatives, foundations, voluntary associations, etc.) and about 140 public districts (a district is a geographic area even larger than a single municipality – in total 1,900 municipalities) in the two regions considered. They were given a semi-structured questionnaire consisting of general questions about the concepts of networking, subsidiarity, partnership etc., and more specific questions in order to understand the state of art of implementation of governance principles and, especially, the implementation of horizontal subsidiarity principles and the instruments used for governance processes so as to manage the networking. This chapter aims to highlight the main findings from the analysis emphasising the main problems of the public administration with involving the non-profit organisations in ensuring effective participation. Furthermore, the third sector has shown that it has difficulty in “applying networking” and creating effective forms of representation that facilitate dialogue with the public sector. Nevertheless, the research aims to show that despite the difficulties, the system is perceived by the actors as still relevant, essential and certainly with room for improvement and will highlight the next developments for the implementation of an effective governance of social services in order to guarantee the social needs of a community. This chapter is structured as follows: first literature review and theoretical framework, then method and discussion of the empirical context (Italian situation), next results and discussion, and finally conclusion.

Public Governance of Welfare Services in Italy

FRANZONI, Simona
2014-01-01

Abstract

The chapter analyses the empirical application of Public Governance in the context of the social services. This area is characterised by the number and the fragmentation of actors (public, profit, non-profit organisations, etc.), by the variability of their relationships, by the dynamic boundaries of the network and the difficulties of defining a common vision of “public interest”. In Italy, Law 328/00 establishes a Public Governance model aimed at coordinating the responsibilities among a plethora of key actors involved, in particular, third sector organisations, as co-protagonists of planning actions for managing and providing social services. The aim of this chapter is to answer the following question: What are the effects of the Italian legislation and the actual situation on the relationship and the cooperation between local public authorities and third sector organisations (social cooperatives, voluntary associations, foundations, social enterprises, etc.) in order to safeguard the quality of social services? The study intends to address the reform laws of social service systems in two regions, respectively, the Lombardy Region (Regional Law 3/2008 and the Emilia Romagna Region (Regional Law 3/2003), because they represent advanced welfare systems in the country and carry different policy styles. Finally, the study aims at analysing the implementation of Law 328/00 (and subsequent regional laws) ten years after its introduction, and subsequently at establishing the effective application of the Public Governance paradigm. The survey used involved about 3,500 non-profit organisations (social cooperatives, foundations, voluntary associations, etc.) and about 140 public districts (a district is a geographic area even larger than a single municipality – in total 1,900 municipalities) in the two regions considered. They were given a semi-structured questionnaire consisting of general questions about the concepts of networking, subsidiarity, partnership etc., and more specific questions in order to understand the state of art of implementation of governance principles and, especially, the implementation of horizontal subsidiarity principles and the instruments used for governance processes so as to manage the networking. This chapter aims to highlight the main findings from the analysis emphasising the main problems of the public administration with involving the non-profit organisations in ensuring effective participation. Furthermore, the third sector has shown that it has difficulty in “applying networking” and creating effective forms of representation that facilitate dialogue with the public sector. Nevertheless, the research aims to show that despite the difficulties, the system is perceived by the actors as still relevant, essential and certainly with room for improvement and will highlight the next developments for the implementation of an effective governance of social services in order to guarantee the social needs of a community. This chapter is structured as follows: first literature review and theoretical framework, then method and discussion of the empirical context (Italian situation), next results and discussion, and finally conclusion.
2014
9781137351623
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11379/268916
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