Università Roma Tre

Program

The making of public policies is one of the basic functions of each political system, it affects the arrangement of solutions by policy makers to the problems that arise in society. The analysis of public policies is a specific perspective of study in political science that the course intends to introduce. The particular objective is to provide the conceptual tools for understanding and analysing the policy process.

The lessons will be split in two parts: general introduction and empirical application.

The first part will introduce the basic concepts of the discipline, it will give an overview of the definitions of "public policy" and will outline the various approaches to the study of public policies. Then, will be presented the main typologies of policies, the actors involved in their production, and the different stages that give rise to the policy making process: agenda setting, formulation, decision, implementation, evaluation. Lastly, will be discussed the national styles of policy making and the influence of international factors on them.

The second part, given the relevance of the automotive industry in Italy, will be devoted to the analysis of government policies relating to the automotive industry. Particular attention will be paid to the interaction between public and private actors in the definition of policies on the automotive industry and it will be shown (even by comparison with the experience of other major Western countries) as the incidence of domestic and international factors contributed the evolution of the Italian policy style in the automotive industry.

Teaching methods

Frontal lessons will be supported by seminars on specific empirical topics, taught by experts of the issue addressed by the seminar. The schedule will be announced in class.

Assessment methods

Students attending at least 80% of the course will take a written examination, based on the two texts indicated in the list below.

Students not attending the course will take an oral exam based on the two texts indicated in the list below.

Reference books

- Howlett M., Ramesh M. and A. Perl, Studying Public Policy. Policy Cycles and Policy Subsystems 3rd ed., Toronto, Oxford University Press, 2009.

-Germano L., Fiat Goes it Alone: The Italian Car Industry, The Government, and the Crisis of 2000s, in «South European Society and Politics», Vol. 17 N.1, 2012 PP. 65-86. DOI: 10.1080/13608746.2011.647467.

- Howlett M. e Ramesh M., Come studiare le politiche pubbliche, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2003.

- Germano L., Governo e grandi imprese. La Fiat da azienda protetta a global player, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2009.

- Germano L., Fiat, ancora un interesse privilegiato? L'evoluzione delle politiche governative per il settore auto, in «Rivista Italiana di Politiche Pubbliche», n. 2, 2011, pp.275-310.

OPPURE, IN ALTERNATIVA AL PRECEDENTE ARTICOLO:

-Germano L., Fiat Goes It Alone: The Italian Car Industry, The Government, and the Crisis of 2000s, in «South European Society and Politics», Vol. 17 N.1, 2012 PP. 65-86. DOI: 10.1080/13608746.2011.647467.