Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T17:27:37.622Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The political origins of transparency reform: insights from the Italian case

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 September 2018

Fabrizio Di Mascio ,
Alessandro Natalini  and
Federica Cacciatore Open the ORCID record for Federica Cacciatore [Opens in a new window]
Fabrizio Di Mascio
Affiliation:
Associate Professor of Political Science, Interuniversity Department of Regional and Urban Studies and Planning, University of Turin, Torino, Italy
Alessandro Natalini
Affiliation:
Associate Professor of Political Science, Dipartimento di Giurisprudenza, Parthenope University, Napoli, Italy
Federica Cacciatore*
Affiliation:
Adjunct Professor of Policies of Administrative Simplification, DISTU – Dipartimento di studi linguistico-letterari, storico-filosofici e giuridici, Tuscia University, Viterbo, Italy
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

This research contributes to the expanding literature on the determinants of government transparency. It uncovers the dynamics of transparency in the Italian case, which shows an interesting reform trajectory: until the late 1980s no transparency provisions existed; since then, provisions have dramatically increased under the impulse of changing patterns of political competition. The analysis of the Italian case highlights that electoral uncertainty for incumbents is a double-edged sword for institutional reform: on the one hand, it incentivizes the adoption of ever-growing transparency provisions; on the other, it jeopardizes the implementation capacity of public agencies by leading to severe administrative burdens.

Keywords

procedural transparencyfreedom of informationwebsite publicationopen dataopen governmentdisclosure
Type
Research Article
Information
Italian Political Science Review / Rivista Italiana di Scienza Politica , Volume 49 , Issue 3 , November 2019 , pp. 211 - 227
Copyright
Copyright © Società Italiana di Scienza Politica 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bagenholm, ACharron, N (2014) Do politics in Europe benefit from politicising corruption? West European Politics 37(5): 903–931.Google Scholar
Berliner, D (2014) The political origins of transparency. The Journal of Politics 76(2): 479–491.Google Scholar
Berliner, D (2017) Sunlight or window dressing? Local government compliance with South Africa’s promotion of access to information act. Governance 30(4): 641–661.Google Scholar
Berliner, DErlich, A (2015) Competing for transparency: political competition and institutional reform in Mexican States. American Political Science Review 109(1): 110–128.Google Scholar
Bull, MRhodes, M (1997) Between crisis and transition: Italian politics in the 1990s. West European Politics 20(1): 1–13.Google Scholar
Bull, MPasquino, G (2018) Italian politics in an era of recession: the end of bipolarism? South European Society & Politics 23(1): 1–12.Google Scholar
Cacciatore, F, Di Mascio, FNatalini, A (2017) La trasparenza proattiva in Italia: Meccanismi causali e dinamiche di contesto. Rivista Italiana di Politiche Pubbliche 1, 49–80.Google Scholar
Chiaramonte, A (2010) Dal bipolarismo frammentato al bipolarismo limitato? evoluzione del sistema partitico italiano, in A Chiaramonte and R D’Alimonte (eds). Proporzionale se vi pare. Le elezioni politiche del 2008, Bologna: Il Mulino, pp. 203–228.Google Scholar
Cotta, M (1988) Italy: A Fragmented Government, in J. Blondel and F Müller-Rommel (eds). Cabinets in Western Europe. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Cucciniello, MNasi, G (2014) Transparency for trust in government: how effective is formal transparency? International Journal of Public Administration 37(13): 911–921.Google Scholar
De Fine Licht, J, Naurin, D, Esaiasson, PGilljam, M (2014) When does transparency generates legitimacy? experimenting on a context-bound relationship. Governance 27(1): 111–134.Google Scholar
Della Porta, DVannucci, A (2007) Corruption and anticorruption: the political defeat of “clean hands” in Italy. West European Politics 30(4): 830–853.Google Scholar
Di Mascio, F (2014) Exploring the link between patronage and party institutionalization: an historical-institutionalist analysis of the Italian transition. Democratization 21(4): 678–698.Google Scholar
Di Palma, G (1979) The available state: problems of reform. West European Politics 2(3): 149–165.Google Scholar
Diritto, di Sapere (2013) The silent state: access to information in Italy. Retrieved 30 March 2017 from www.dirittodisapere.it/rapporto/.Google Scholar
Epperly, B (2013) The provision of insurance? Judicial independence and the post-tenure fate of leaders. Journal of Law and Courts 1(2): 247–278.Google Scholar
George, ALBennett, A (2005) Case Studies and Theory Development in the Social Sciences. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Ginsburg, T (2003) Judicial Review in New Democracies: Constitutional Courts in Asian Cases. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Grimmelikhuijsen, SGKasymova, J (2015) Exploring the meaning and use of government transparency in consensual and majoritarian democracies. Public Integrity 17(4): 389–407.Google Scholar
Grzymala-Busse, A (2003) Political competition and the politicization of the state in east central Europe. Comparative Political Studies 36(10): 1123–1147.Google Scholar
Hillebrandt, MZ, Curtin, DMeijer, A (2014) Transparency in the EU council of ministers: an institutional analysis. European Law Journal 20(1): 1–20.Google Scholar
Hood, CHeald, D (eds) (2006) Transparency: The Key to Better Governance? Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Howlett, M (2009) Process sequencing policy dynamics: beyond homeostasis and path dependence. Journal of Public Policy 29(3): 241–262.Google Scholar
Mahoney, J (2000) Path dependence in historical sociology. Theory and Society 29(4): 507–548.Google Scholar
Manucci, LAmsler, M (2018) Where the wind blows: Five Star Movement’s populism, direct democracy and ideological flexibility. Italian Political Science Review 48(1): 109–132.Google Scholar
Meijer, A (2013) Understanding the complex dynamics of transparency. Public Administration Review 73(3): 429–439.Google Scholar
Meyer-Sahling, JH (2004) Civil service reform in post-communist Europe: the bumpy road to depoliticisation. West European Politics 27(1): 71–103.Google Scholar
McCubbins, MDSchwartz, T (1984) Congressional oversight overlooked: police patrols versus fire alarms. American Journal of Political Science 28(1): 165–179.Google Scholar
Michener, G (2015a) How cabinet size and legislative control shape the strength of transparency laws. Governance 28(1): 77–94.Google Scholar
Michener, G (2015b) Assessing freedom of information in Latin America a decade later: illuminating a causal mechanism. Latin American Politics and Society 57(3): 77–99.Google Scholar
Michener, G (2017) Transparency as leverage or transparency as monitoring? US and Nordic paradigms in Latin America. Retrieved 22 July 2018 from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321320174_Transparency_as_Leverage_or_Transparency_as_Monitoring_US_and_Nordic_Paradigms_in_Latin_America.Google Scholar
Morlino, L (2013) The impossible transition and the unstable new mix: Italy 1992–2012. Comparative European Politics 11(3): 337–359.Google Scholar
O’Dwyer, C (2006) Runaway State-Building: Patronage Politics and Democratic Development. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Peters, BG (2006) Consociationalism, corruption and chocolate: Belgian exceptionalism. West European Politics 29(5): 1079–1092.Google Scholar
Peters, BG (2008) The Napoleonic tradition. International Journal of Public Sector Management 21(2): 118–132.Google Scholar
Pierson, P (2004) Politics in Time: History, Institutions, and Social Analysis. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Piotrowski, S (2007) Governmental Transparency in the Path of Administrative Reform. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.Google Scholar
Porumbescu, GA, Bellé, N, Cucciniello, MNasi, G (2017) Translating policy transparency into policy understanding and support. Public Administration 95(4): 990–1008.Google Scholar
Puddephatt, A (2009) Exploring the Role of Civil Society in the Formulation and Adoption of Access to Information Laws. Washington, DC: World Bank Institute.Google Scholar
Ruijer, EMeijer, A (2016) National transparency regimes: rules or principles? International Journal of Public Administration 39(11): 895–908.Google Scholar
Sartori, G (1976) Parties and Party Systems. A Framework for Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Savino, M (2010) The Right to Open Public Administrations in Europe: Emerging Legal Standards. Paris: OECD-OCSE.Google Scholar
Schnell, S (2017) Cheap talk or incredible commitment? Miscalculating transparency and anticorruption. Governance 31(3): 415–430.Google Scholar
Schuster, C (2018) Patrons against clients: electoral uncertainty and bureaucratic tenure in politicized states. Regulation & Governance, doi: 10.1111/rego.12186.Google Scholar
Thies, MF (2001) Keeping tabs on partners: the logic of delegation in coalition government. American Journal of Political Science 45(3): 580–598.Google Scholar
Ting, MM, Snyder, JM, Hirano, SFolke, O (2012) Elections and reform: the adoption of civil service systems in the U.S. states. Journal of Theoretical Politics 25(3): 363–387.Google Scholar
Tronconi, F (2018) The Italian Five Star Movement during the crisis: towards normalisation? South European Society & Politics 23(1): 163–180.Google Scholar
Vassallo, S (2007) Government under Berlusconi: the functioning of the core institutions in Italy. West European Politics 30(4): 692–710.Google Scholar
Worthy, B (2015) The impact of open data in the UK: complex, unpredictable, and political. Public Administration 93(3): 788–805.Google Scholar
Worthy, B (2017) The Politics of Freedom of Information: How and Why Governments Pass Laws that Threaten Their Power. Manchester: Manchester University Press.Google Scholar