Government In Italy Research Articles

Showcasing Japan A Journey of Japanese Identity through Archaeology and Ancient Art Exhibitions in Italy

To what extent does the narrative of Japan’s prehistorical origins matter to Italy? In the second half of the twentieth century, Palazzo delle Esposizioni in Rome hosted two significant exhibitions dedicated to Japanese archaeology and ancient art: Tesori dell’Arte Giapponese in 1958 and Il Giappone prima dell’Occidente in 1995. Both displays provided Italian visitors with an unparalleled framework to engage with early artistic manifestations of the archipelago known today as Japan. Built on a critical analysis of the prehistoric and protohistoric artefacts from the Jōmon to Kofun periods selected for the Italian audience, this paper examines the active application of narrative discourse on Japan’s identity by the Japanese government in Italy. Still, it also sheds light on the presence of Japanese archaeology and art in Italian public and private collections throughout the twentieth century. The analysis delves into the textual and visual presentation of exhibits, examining both the venue and catalogues. These sources offer insights into potential instances of orientalism or self-orientalism, revealing a narrative closely tied to stereotypical views. The investigation unravels aspects of Japan’s past emphasised in diplomatic shows, evolving alongside ground-breaking archaeological discoveries in post-war Japan.

Behind the technocratic challenge: Old and new alternatives to party government in Italy

The growing presence of technocrats in contemporary governments has emerged as a relevant phenomenon worldwide. Italy, once known as a paradigmatic case of party government and now identified as the promised land of technocracy, constitutes a crucial case to test the major short-term (critical junctures) and long-term (complexity of policy-making; party decline) factors identified to explain this phenomenon. Our analysis is based on two innovative tools: a new dataset updated to the current back-to-politics Meloni Italian government, including all the cases of the ‘technocratic decade’ (2010s); and a new typology combining partisanship and expertise, which allows us to overcome dichotomous categorizations equating technocrats and non-partisans. This more accurate and updated picture of minister profiles in Italy unveils unexpected dynamics and allows us to reassess both previous findings on the Italian case and the explanatory power of the tested theories on the growing diffusion of technocrats in contemporary governments.

Changes in hospital admissions for facial fractures during and after COVID 19 pandemic: national multicentric epidemiological analysis on 2938 patients.

The objective of this multicenter study was to examine the differences in maxillo-facial fractures epidemiology across the various phases of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. This is a retrospective study on patients who underwent surgery for facial bone fractures in 18 maxillo-facial surgery departments in Italy, spanning from June 23, 2019, to February 23, 2022. Based on the admission date, the data were classified into four chronological periods reflecting distinct periods of restrictions in Italy: pre-pandemic, first wave, partial restrictions, and post-pandemic. Epidemiological differences across the groups were analysed. The study included 2938 patients. A statistically significant difference in hospitalization causes was detected between the pre-pandemic and first wave groups (p = 0.005) and between the pre-pandemic and partial restriction groups (p = 0.002). The differences between the pre- and post-pandemic groups were instead not significant (p = 0.106). Compared to the pre-pandemic period, the number of patients of African origin was significantly higher during the first wave and the post-pandemic period. No statistically significant differences were found across the periods concerning gender, age, fracture type, treatment approach, and hospital stay duration CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic brought about significant changes in fracture epidemiology, influenced by the restrictive measures enforced by the government in Italy. Upon the pandemic's conclusion, the fracture epidemiology returned to the patterns observed in the pre-pandemic period.

Surviving in an age of transparency: Emancipatory transparency‐making in food governance in Italy

AbstractThe concept of transparency is now an unescapable reference in public, professional, and private life. As transparency‐making has recently transmuted from a progressive instrument to counter corruption into a new universal ideological formation, it is time to problematize the concept of transparency and its uses. In this article, I consider transparency not as a moral principle or static ideology but as a terrain of political struggle over its meaning and practices. An emerging literature in anthropology highlights how transparency has become a form of governance that leads to a sense of deprofessionalization in working life. Based on ethnographic research with activist networks and small‐scale farmers in Italy, I investigate experiments with horizontal and inclusive forms of alternative transparency‐making in food processing. I consider three interrelated emblematic frictions within these experiments: informal versus formal, top‐down versus horizontal, and not‐for‐profit versus commercial. While these experimental forms of transparency‐making allow small‐scale farmers to reappropriate a sense of autonomy and professionalism, the frictions indicate that conventional and alternative transparency‐making are not diametrically opposed. Frictions in emancipatory transparency‐making repoliticize decision‐making processes in ways that are unknown in contemporary concepts of transparency. Ultimately, the concept of emancipatory transparency‐making calls for engagement in open dialogical processes.

An Innovative Partnership and Methods for Knowledge Co-Production in Water Governance. The case study of the Gesso Stura Natural Park.

This report describes the education, research activities and productive dialogue that took place over a 3-day workshop at the Gesso Stura Natural Park (Italy, Piedmont Region). The project was coordinated by Prof. Eva Julia Lohse in collaboration with Prof. Margherita Paola Poto, and funded by the DAAD to establish and strengthen collaboration between the University of Bayreuth and the University of Turin. The workshop aimed to explore interdisciplinary, novel methods for (legal and political) water governance in the age of climate crisis. It investigated how co-production of knowledge can be used in environmental decision-making processes so as to reach better decisions based on a broader knowledge base, increase acceptance of protection measures by the public, and improve management of areas hit by severe droughts to guarantee access to water for communities. The workshop builds on the long-standing cooperation between the two principal researchers and their institutions regarding participation in environmental decision-making, sustainable development and water governance in Italy and Germany. This cooperation has been further developed by joint research on co-production of knowledge with indigenous and local communities to address the complex legal and social questions raised by the climate crisis.

The management of healthcare employees’ job satisfaction: optimization analyses from a series of large-scale surveys

BackgroundMeasuring employees’ satisfaction with their jobs and working environment have become increasingly common worldwide. Healthcare organizations are not extraneous to the irreversible trend of measuring employee perceptions to boost performance and improve service provision. Considering the multiplicity of aspects associated with job satisfaction, it is important to provide managers with a method for assessing which elements may carry key relevance. Our study identifies the mix of factors that are associated with an improvement of public healthcare professionals’ job satisfaction related to unit, organization, and regional government. Investigating employees’ satisfaction and perception about organizational climate with different governance level seems essential in light of extant evidence showing the interconnection as well as the uniqueness of each governance layer in enhancing or threatening motivation and satisfaction.MethodsThis study investigates the correlates of job satisfaction among 73,441 employees in healthcare regional governments in Italy. Across four cross sectional surveys in different healthcare systems, we use an optimization model to identify the most efficient combination of factors that is associated with an increase in employees’ satisfaction at three levels, namely one’s unit, organization, and regional healthcare system.ResultsFindings show that environmental characteristics, organizational management practices, and team coordination mechanisms correlates with professionals’ satisfaction. Optimization analyses reveal that improving the planning of activities and tasks in the unit, a sense of being part of a team, and supervisor’s managerial competences correlate with a higher satisfaction to work for one’s unit. Improving how managers do their job tend to be associated with more satisfaction to work for the organization.ConclusionsThe study unveils commonalities and differences of personnel administration and management across public healthcare systems and provides insights on the role that several layers of governance have in depicting human resource management strategies.

Europe's gone “right” – A comparative study of stock market reactions to populist success in Sweden and Italy

We analyze the reactions of national equity markets to the election of far-right populist governments in Italy and Sweden in September 2022. We apply event study methodology to samples of 285 Swedish and 144 Italian stocks. Share prices of Italian stocks largely aligned in the week before the vote. Conversely, the Swedish electoral outcome hit markets by surprise. Share prices adjusted in the days following the vote. We use firm-level increases in intraday volatility before the vote to estimate sensitivities to electoral outcomes. Dollar-neutral long-minus-short strategies based on these sensitivities prove explanatory power of historical intraday volatility in Sweden, where post-event reactions and uncertainty were evident. The model identified those stocks that are most sensitive to the election outcome.

The public finance response to floods of local governments in Italy

This paper aims to empirically test the dynamics of budget outcomes of Italian municipalities in the aftermath of floods by accounting for heterogeneous levels of resilience and vulnerability to natural disasters. Our findings are based on a dynamic difference-in-differences model after propensity score matching. They point to substantial impacts in terms of increased capital expenditure and revenues from transfers, which depend on the degree of resilience and vulnerability. Through our analysis, we account for multiple aspects of risk to support policy decisions related to both ex-ante and ex-post disaster occurrence management.

On the Other Shore: The Atlantic Worlds of Italians in South America during the Great War

On the Other Shore: The Atlantic Worlds of Italians in South America during the Great War

Weathering the Ill Wind: The Affective and Embodied Dimensions of Anti‐Immigrant Political Discourses on Young African Men in Italy

AbstractUsing the election of the far‐right populist coalition government in Italy in 2018 and resultant legislative changes to immigration it brought about as an analytic lens, I examine the material and emotional impact of these changes on young African men, hosted as “unaccompanied minors” in a reception centre in a northern Italian town. I refer to these changes as an “ill wind” and in this paper examine its impacts using Christina Sharpe’s notion of “weathering” to refer to the totality of the ongoingness of the anti‐Black climate and its effect on Black bodies. I contextualise the young men’s experiences within the Italian race landscape, thus drawing attention to the postcolonial legacies of race and racialisation still underpinning Italian society today. I present how historical structures of racial governmentality are integral to the geography of subordination and produce the racialised figure of the migrant, leaving some strangers to remain stranger than others.

Fragmentation and intergovernmental conflict during the Covid-19 crisis. The complex relationship between national and regional governments in Italy

ABSTRACT The outbreak of the Covid-19 crisis has triggered political tensions involving different levels of government. Italy constitutes a paradigmatic example of such problems. The powers assigned to regional presidents as a result of the dynamics of presidentialization make them key players in Italy’s fragmented multilevel system. The article aims to demonstrate that the conflict between national and regional governments during the pandemic has been based mainly on polity reasons, that is regional governments’ ambition to strengthen their autonomy, rather than on policy arguments. The Covid-19 crisis in Italy has taken the form of an intergovernmental conflict over the balance of authority between central and regional governments. This state of affairs has complicated the attempts at establishing a satisfactory level of coordination between the levels of government, has resulted in a fragmented response to the crisis, and has triggered a systemic conflict between levels of government.

Demographic Anxiety and Abortion: Italian Pro-Life Volunteers’ and Gynecologists’ Perspectives

ABSTRACT In this article, we analyze the public debate on fertility decline and abortion in Italy, focusing on demographic anxieties, fueled by conservative demographers and politicians, about the different reproductive behavior of native Italians and migrants. We argue that vitapolitics, a moral regime that defends “life” and condemns abortion, is one of the main mechanisms of reproductive governance in Italy. Drawing on two studies 1) on pro-life volunteers’ activism and 2) gynecologists’ attitudes to abortion and conscientious objection, we illustrate how vitapolitics shapes the demographic anxieties of these two social actors, who contribute to discipline reproduction on the ground.

New development: Is the pandemic reinforcing the organizational legitimacy of the municipally-owned companies?

IMPACT The Covid-19 pandemic required rapid intervention from governments. Local governments in Italy made use of municipally-owned companies (MOCs) to provide goods and services. This had advantages in terms of speed of intervention and reduction of transaction costs and has increased the organizational legitimacy of MOCs. Based on early evidence and from the author’s past experience as a mayor, this article describes how MOCs are changing and the future role they could play in emergencies.

Keeping migrants at the margins. Governing through ambiguity and the politics of discretion in the post-2015 EUropean migration and border regime

This article deals with the roles of ambiguity and discretion in the governing of migration and how they contribute to the marginalisation of migrants at the borders of EUrope. Building on ethnographic research and interviews conducted in Sicily, it connects legal-institutional ambiguities of two recent policy interventions in the field of migration governance in Italy – the Security Decree-Law and the Hotspot Approach – to the discretionary practices by public officials tasked with their implementation. By theoretically and empirically tracing the co-constitutive relationship of ambiguity and discretion, the article draws on and contributes to recent inquiries into grey areas of governance, particularly in the field of (critical) border regime studies. Based on two distinct cases, it analyses how ambiguity and discretionary local practices are related both to each other and to the contemporary fragmentary reconfiguration processes of the EUropean Migration and Border Regime, and shows how they intersect to form spatio-juridical grey areas that foster the spatial and social marginalisation of migrants in EUrope.

The impact of health policies and vaccine rollout on the COVID-19 pandemic waves in Italy

BackgroundOver the course of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, different response measures were taken to contain the spread of the virus. These include a variety of non-pharmaceutical interventions and a mass vaccination campaign. While not definitive, epidemiological measures provide some indication of the impact of such measures on the dynamics of the pandemic and lessons to better prepare for future emergencies. ObjectiveTo describe the impact of vaccine rollout and health policies on the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy from March 2020 to October 2021 using a set of epidemiological indicators. MethodsWe performed a time-trend analysis of new confirmed COVID-19 cases, patients in hospital, and deaths. Using line charts, we informally assessed the relationship of these indicators with the immunization campaign and other health policies. Daily aggregate data were gathered from GitHub repositories of certified data from Italy's Government and Civil Protection. ResultsThe immunization coverage increased starting in March 2021, with a parallel decrease in COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. Despite different implementation approaches, the vaccine coverage growth rate had a similar pattern across regions. A comprehensive approach including measures such as requiring face masks and a “Green Pass” to enter indoor places also helped contain the pandemic. ConclusionsThe vaccine rollout had a major effect on COVID-19 in Italy, especially on hospitalizations and deaths. Before the vaccine was available, however, other non-pharmaceutical interventions also helped to contain the spread of the virus and mitigate its effect on the population.

Підходи країн Південної Європи до надання підтримки Україні після повномасштабного вторгнення армії Російської Федерації 24 лютого 2022 року (протягом лютого - серпня 2022)

The article is devoted to reviewing the government’s response of Southern European countries (Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece) to the full-scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine on 24 February 2022, which is based on the analysis of the researches, analytical papers, and official reports of the state authorities and mass media. Coverage of this topic is explained by the necessity of the full exploration of the Sothern European governments’ key approaches in supporting Ukraine in the struggle with the Russian army, as well as, discovering some new perspectives, using the comparative and transnational methodology. It is defined the term “Southern Europe”, and also outlined the main historiographical interpretations of the countries of the region. Preference is given to a pragmatic approach for characterising the countries of Southern Europe. The central studies of Ukrainian-Italian, Ukrainian-Spanish, Ukrainian-Portuguese and Ukrainian-Greek relations, official reports and mass media used in the study are analysed. It also analyses and compares the changing Southern European governments’ attitudes towards their supporting Ukraine after the Revolution of Dignity, the illegal annexation of Crimea, and the beginning of war in Donbas in 2014, with the united international response after the full-scale Russian invasion on 24 February 2022. In general, the governments of Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece changed completely their policy of supporting or non-supporting Ukraine in the war. If after 2014 they tried to be pragmatic in the question of cutting ties with the Russian Federation in their foreign policy activity, then after the full-scale invasion in 2022 they strongly condemned Putin’s regime and agreed to provide assistance to Ukraine to the extent of their military and financial capabilities. The study found that the assistance of Southern European countries has been provided on the Atlantic (through NATO) and European (through EU) levels, as well as national. Defence ministers of the governments of Southern Europe are among the members of the “Ramstein” meetings, where the provision of military aid to Ukraine is coordinated. The countries of the region have so far given priority to humanitarian, financial aid and lethal weapons assistance (but not heavy ones), and have also accepted a large number of Ukrainian refugees. The assistance provided at each of the levels is illustrated by specific examples. Otherwise, Russian influence on domestic policy, national populistic parties and single members of the government or parliament is still strong. For instance, the Italian governmental crisis that happened in the mid-summer was the result of the unpopular and strong position of the prime minister Mario Draghi in his unwavering support of Ukraine. The countries of the region also see the Russian-Ukrainian war as an opportunity for them to strengthen their influence in the Mediterranean.

The evolution of the form of government in Italy

The article analyzes the evolution of the parliamentary form of government, which highlights the growing importance of government and the progressive marginalization of Parliament. The Constituent Assembly opted for a form of parliamentary government. A decisive argument put forward during the discussion in favour of the parliamentary system was the concern over an

Effects of COVID-19 lockdown on PM10 composition and sources in the Rome Area (Italy) by elements' chemical fractionation-based source apportionment

During the national lockdown imposed by the Government of Italy (from March 9th to May 18th 2020) to counter the Covid-19 pandemic, 24-h PM10 samples were collected at three sites in the Rome area (Central Italy), two urban (Sapienza and Via Saredo, highly impacted by vehicular traffic) and one peri-urban (Montelibretti, more impacted by biomass domestic heating). Further, at Sapienza and Montelibretti PM10 daily sampling had been carried out in the period immediately before lockdown, and at Via Saredo samples were additionally collected also after the end of lockdown. PM10 was chemically speciated for main components (major elements, inorganic ions, EC, OC, levoglucosan), and trace elements. The latter were chemically fractionated and considered for their water-soluble and insoluble fractions, which proved to be more source-selective than total element. Three datasets were thus built and analyzed by Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF), with the aim of identifying and apportioning mass contributions of sources acting in the periods before, during and after lockdown, in the Rome area. Identified emission sources were mostly from long-range advection (two different contributions of mineral dust, fresh sea spray, heavy oil combustion), while local sources (vehicular traffic and biomass burning) were strongly abated during lockdown, with respect to previous sampling period, and inorganic secondary aerosol showed a progressive increment of sulfates, driven by seasonal evolution from winter to spring. Since the lockdown interrupted all non-essential productive and work activities, thus reducing the chemical fingerprinting of local sources, this occurrence allowed to clearly describe both profiles and source contribution estimates of long-range transported PM10 components. Moreover, it allowed assessing the reduction of the impact of anthropogenic sources (such as vehicular traffic) and the efficiency of mitigation measures generally taken to control PM10 mass concentration. Acidic sulfates (bisulfate and letovicite) resulted associated to mineral dust transport events, and the role of chemically fractionated elements as source-specific tracers was further confirmed.

A Tale of Two Pandemics in Three Countries

Abstract Issue Italy, Spain, and Portugal's health systems are financed through general taxation, are generally free at the point of care, and provide universal health coverage. The three national health systems emerged in the late 1970s, in Italy as the result of the collapse of the previous social health insurance system and in Spain and Portugal as part of their democratization. They share some standard organizational and performance features that constitute potential strengths and vulnerabilities when facing a pandemic event. Description One of the most salient of these features is the impact of a decade of fiscal austerity. During the Great Recession and the Eurozone crisis, the governments of Italy, Spain, and Portugal decreased the budget available for health care, leading to cuts in long-term infrastructure investments and making it even more difficult to deal with the problem of workforce. Results Compared with northern European countries, these countries have very efficient healthcare systems. In other words, the return in terms of population health is very good for every Euro invested. Lessons However, in what is only apparently a paradox, efficiency is not an advantage during a pandemic. If all the resources are fully optimized, any significant surges in demand, such as those experienced during early March 2020 in Italy and Spain, this favors a collapse of the health system. Portugal seemed especially vulnerable, as it had the lowest number of intensive care unit beds per inhabitant in Europe and one of the lowest levels of investment in public health services in Europe. Main messages In 2015, on average, the countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) allocated 2.8 percent of their total healthcare budget to health promotion and disease prevention. More investment in health promotion is a need strategy to drive countries over critical conditions.

Emotional distress in the early stages of the COVID-19 related lockdowns depending on the severity of the pandemic and emergency measures: a comparative online-survey in Germany, Austria and Italy

BackgroundThe first wave of the COVID-19-pandemic hit different countries with varying degrees of severity, so that differences in the type and level of emergency measures were also necessary. It can be assumed that the psychological burden was higher in countries subjected to a more severe course of the pandemic (Italy) than in countries subjected to a less severe one (Germany, Austria).ObjectiveTo investigate and contrast the wellbeing of the population in Italy, Austria, and Germany in the early phase of the first lockdown.MethodOnline survey on N = 4289 individuals. The questionnaire comprised a self-administered section, exploring the dimensions: perceived severity of COVID-19, perceived risk of disease, concerns related to COVID-19, emergency measure acceptance and emotional distress due to emergency measures; and standardized scales to record emotional state and coping: Stress-Coping-Style Questionnaire, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, State-Trait-Anxiety-Inventory.ResultsThe three countries displayed significant differences in all investigated dimensions (p < .001). Italian participants assessed the COVID-19 virus as much more dangerous (p < .001), but despite the prevalence of the virus, the subjective risk of disease was perceived to be lower in Italy (p < .001). This could be a positive effect of the restrictive curfews set by the government in Italy. The emergency measures were generally perceived to be very effective in all three countries, but due to the duration and the severity of the measures, the fear and stress-reaction were the strongest among Italian participants (p < .001).ConclusionThe stricter measures in Italy prevented an application of many positive stress processing strategies, which, in turn, fostered the perpetuation of stresses and fear.