Administrative Traditions and Policy Change: When Policy Paradigms Matter. The Case of Italian Administrative Reform During the 1990s
| Date | 01 December 2003 |
| Published date | 01 December 2003 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.0033-3298.2003.00371.x |
| Author | Giliberto Capano |
Public Administration Vol. 81 No. 4, 2003 (781–801)
© Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2003, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main Street,
Malden, MA 02148, USA.
EUROPEAN
FORUM
ADMINISTRATIVE TRADITIONS AND POLICY
CHANGE: WHEN POLICY PARADIGMS
MATTER. THE CASE OF ITALIAN
ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM DURING THE 1990s
GILIBERTO CAPANO
In recent years a growing number of scholars have developed cognitive and ideational
theoretical frameworks for the analysis of policy-making processes: their underlying
belief is that ideas (conceived as beliefs, causal theories and paradigms) really do
matter. The concept of policy paradigm has been particularly useful in studying both
the contents and dynamics of policy change. The present paper takes this concept,
partially reformulates Hall’s definition in terms of the distinction between the hege-
monic and dominant paradigm, and then uses it to come to terms with the contents
and dynamics of the Italian administrative reforms implemented during the 1990s.
Mixing the conceptual lenses offered by the ideational and cultural path taken in the
field of public policy and by historical neo-institutionalism, this article attempts to
explain the Italian trajectory, and to underline how normative and cognitive elements
represent an important influence on the ‘design’ and ‘strategy’ of policy change. Our
analysis of the consistency of the reformers’ documents and policy strategy shows
that, despite their claims, the contents and strategy of reform do not represent a
paradigmatic about-turn, but constitute an evolutionary adaptation to external pres-
sures imposed by the hegemonic administrative paradigm.
Periodic attempts at a general reform of Italy’s public administration have
been accompanied by a critique of the normative and cognitive principles that
had sustained and guided administrative action up until the reform. Plans for
large-scale administrative reform are always presented as being based on
‘new’ ideas about forms of action, institutional order and organizational
methods yet to be tried out. While this ‘newness’ appears debatable – many
Giliberto Capano is Professor of Political Science at the University of Bologna at Forli.
padm81(4).book Page 781 Friday, November 14, 2003 10:29 AM
782GILIBERTO CAPANO
© Blackwell Publishing Ltd. 2003
scholars point out that it is usually nothing more than the reinvention or the
re-articulation of old, ever-present themes and principles – what matters is
that any radical reform project is designed on the basis of policy principles
and instruments planned to replace those that are in force. In the case of Italy,
this kind of change in the public sector calls for ‘extraordinary’ changes in the
cultural and cognitive basis underlying the administrative traditions of the
country. Such changes require the system to find new and innovative solu-
tions (March 1994). From the historical-institutionalist perspective, this expec-
tation runs counter to evidence showing that public organizations develop
gradually through an evolutionary process, producing a unique set of values
and operative standards (Selznick 1957; Immergut 1998). Thus the cultural
variable is of essential importance if we are to understand why administrative
reforms can vary in nature (Brunsson and Olsen 1993; Premfors 1998) and
follow very different paths (Pollitt and Bouckaert 2000). The present article
adopts an historical-institutionalist perspective, focusing on cultural and
ideational factors (conceptualized and operationalized as policy paradigms),
in order to analyse and interpret the ‘design’ and ‘strategy’ characterizing the
radical process of reform of Italian public administration seen in the 1990s.
POLICY PARADIGM, POLICY CHANGE AND ADMINISTRATIVE
REFORM
In recent years, public policy analysis has experienced a fundamental shift
in theoretical and analytical focus towards the question of just how ideas,
principles, values and beliefs influence and constrain both the behaviour of
policy-makers and the dynamics of the policy-making process (see Braun
and Busch 1999; Surel 2000). In an attempt to grasp the cognitive and norma-
tive dimensions o f policy-making, a range of concep ts have been developed:
frames (Schon and Rein 1994); belief systems (Sabatier and Jenkins-Smith
1993); référentiels (Jobert and Muller 1987); and paradigms (Hall 1993). All
these notions aim to define a coherent set of normative and cognitive
elements which, within specific policy sectors, establish the identity, world-
view and practices of all those players accepting the same paradigm (frame,
belief system, référentiel).
This approach is both interesting and fruitful, especially when policy
change is under analysis and the analyst is dissatisfied with the traditional
structuralist approach whereby changes are considered to be the direct effect
of exogenous pressures. We believe that the content of policy changes is
strictly related to the specific configuration of institutions, interests and ideas
inherent to a given policy sector, and that within this context, the features of
the articulation of normative and cognitive elements can determine the
mechanisms of resistance, adaptation and/or transformation that constitute
the reaction to such external pressures.
The social sciences have adopted the concept of paradigm from episte-
mology (Kuhn 1970). A public policy paradigm is the series of beliefs and
ideas of policy-makers (those who materially formulate and implement
padm81(4).book Page 782 Friday, November 14, 2003 10:29 AM
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