The interrelated roles of the regional and local government in developing local partnerships in Italy

Abstract

Building partnerships is becoming an important issue at the local level of government in many countries. Different experiences can be traced throughout Europe, as well as in other OECD countries. This is because partnerships, especially in small local authorities, can help to manage services in a more efficient and effective way. Nevertheless, building a relationship is difficult, nor is it always successful, as many scholars emphasise. For a number of reasons, higher levels of government may then play a significant role in supporting partnerships between different stakeholders. Given the shortage of empirical studies on this subject, this paper combines conceptual and empirical analysis, and is based upon: - the direct observation of a number of partnerships in Italy, with particular reference to those Regions in which the birth and the development of partnerships have been positively influenced by the regional level of government; - surveys of other partnerships which have been formalised in Italy; - a literature review and the analysis of official documents. The issues analysed in this article are the critical aspects of partnership building, and the role played by higher levels of government in activating or facilitating partnerships. It is in fact clear that higher levels of government may gain considerable benefit from the development of partnerships at the local level. Some consideration will also be given to institutional reforms in Italy, since a relevant part of the reform effort is meant to redesign the distribution of responsibilities between the different levels of government. Finally, the paper deals with comparative aspects, and investigates the existence of common patterns and trends in the different regional experiences examined.