Accountability in Italian Local Governments: State of the Art and Future Perspective.

The theme of accountability has interested the world of public administrations following what happened in the private sector (Ball, 2004). However, public accountability in Local Governments has significantly evolved over the last 20 years. In Italy, many Local Governments fostered this process by publishing social reports. However, further research is still needed to understand if and how these administrations are using such tools to promote their public accountability. Are social reports actually used by Italian public authorities as means to deliver public accountability? This chapter aims at highlighting the state of the art and future perspective of social reporting practices within Italian Local Governments.