Stefania Ravazzi

When a government attempts to institutionalize and regulate deliberative democracy: the how and why from a process-tracing perspective

ABSTRACT Over the last few decades, public deliberation has spread in many countries, but this has occurred mostly through experiments and pilot projects. Recently, some countries have taken some steps forward by introducing participatory policies in order to institutionalize citizen involvement practices in the policy-making processes. Among these countries, France and Italy, and Tuscany in particular, have been recognized as clear examples of democratic governments that have initiated public programs to systematically apply deliberative processes to policy-making. These programs seem particularly challenging as far as the legitimacy of the democratic representative institutions and the role of politicians are concerned. Therefore, whatever leads a government to initiate such a policy deserves attention, and a theory on the particular model that can characterize the initiation of these policies is needed. The paper has the aim of proposing a hypothesis on the causal mechanism that can lead to the initiation of such a policy. A within-case study of the Tuscan case, which at present is recognized as the most advanced laboratory of deliberative democracy, is presented. The application of process tracing allows an analytical explanation to be made, which could be used as a theoretical base for further research on the topic.

Explaining “Power to” Incubation and Agenda Building in an Urban Regime

The urban regime theory has placed the decisional power of urban policy makers in the foreground. From this perspective, enduring governing coalitions can in fact manage to change the consolidated urban policy mix to foster great changes in the social and economic context. The urban regime theory labels this capacity “power to.” Although this higher capacity has frequently been affirmed, the literature has neglected to look at the framing mechanisms and the policy-making processes that allow a new agenda to emerge and be implemented. The present article has the aim of addressing this matter and in particular of trying to answer two main questions: (1) If an incubation phase lays the foundations for the emergence of a new policy agenda, how does this process take place? (2) Is the new agenda a by-product of sectorial policy negotiations or is it the output of a collective effort? The findings of an in-depth analysis of a case study are presented and discussed to address these questions.

L'élite che governa Torino

Turin’s Ruling Elite ABSTRACT: The transition of Turin from one-company town to a postindustrial city has been led by an urban ruling elite (ECG), whose members have been identified through a combination of positional and reputational methods. Network analysis and qualitative research on the members of the group allow to outline the elite relational structure and its social and political profile, that looks pluralistic and policentric. By selecting a core group inside the network and analysing its social and political attributes some hypotheses emerge on the urban regime and the capability of this ruling elite to act like a collective actor.

Deliberazione e conflitto: evidenze da un’analisi comparata

The article aims at analyzing the impact of deliberation on the dynamics of the conflicts in the policy making processes. We shall argue whether and how deliberation succeeds in stopping the typical escalation of the conflicts, lowering protests, generating more open-minded institutional decisions, reducing stereotypes and developing a new constructive approach in decision making. The analysis is based on the comparison of three recent cases of deliberative processes dealing with conflictual issues: a deliberative process on the hypothesis to write a bill regulating the use and power of the living will; a public debate on a new highway stretch in the city of Genova; a citizens’ jury on the building of a small plant to dispose of industrial waste in the small tuscan town of Castelfranco.