Inside the Italian Covid-19 task forces

Galanti, Maria Tullia; Saracino, Barbara

doi:10.1080/23248823.2021.1916858

Cited by 10 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…It also implied a subject-oriented analytical capacity (Howlett 2015 ). This in turn entailed the impossibility of examining “political and economic issues not within the competence of the CTS,” 28 which was, however, partly moderated by the establishment of other issue-based expert task forces to support the work of ministries (Capano 2020 ; Galanti and Saracino 2021 ). In addition, a lack of usage of specific evidence by policymakers and the CTS was lamented by extra-CTS experts.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 2017 ). The prevalence of legalistic knowledge in the administration makes Italy an inhospitable system for EBP, which has therefore a minor role therein (Capano 2020 ; Galanti and Saracino 2021 ).…”

Section: What Does Ebp Look Like In Germany Switzerland and Italy?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This assumption is supported by the fact that even in nonemergency times, Italy adopts an emergency style of policymaking (Dente and Regonini 1989 ) in which problem pressure (Galanti and Lippi 2019 ) makes policymakers more likely to rely on faster expertise than on evidence, for which the production process can be more time-demanding. In fact, most policy advice is institutionalized inside ministerial cabinets (Galanti and Saracino 2021 ).…”

Section: What Does Ebp Look Like In Germany Switzerland and Italy?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“… 2017 , p. 90). Italy has a system of politicized, primarily internal expertise (Capano 2020 ; Galanti and Saracino 2021 ). In contrast, in Switzerland, scientific advice mostly takes the form of short-term mandates given to external advisors, who file written reports containing evidence (Himmelsbach 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evidence-Based Policymaking in Times of Acute Crisis: Comparing the Use of Scientific Knowledge in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy

Hadorn

Sager

Mavrot

et al. 2022

Polit Vierteljahresschr

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This article studies how different systems of policy advice are suited to provide relevant knowledge in times of acute crisis. The notion of evidence-based policymaking (EBP) originated in the successful 1997 New Labour program in the United Kingdom to formulate policy based not on ideology but on sound empirical evidence. We provide a brief overview of the history of the concept and the current debates around it. We then outline the main characteristics of the policy advisory systems in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy through which scientific knowledge—in the form of either person-bound expertise or evidence generated through standard scientific processes—was fed into policy formulation processes before the COVID-19 crisis. Whereas EBP takes place in the form of institutionalized advisory bodies and draws on expertise rather than on evidence in Germany, the system in Switzerland focuses more on the use of evidence provided through external mandates. Italy has a hybrid politicized expert system. The article then analyzes how this different prioritization of expertise vs. evidence in the three countries affects policymakers’ capacity to include scientific knowledge in policy decisions in times of acute crisis. The comparison of the three countries implies that countries with policy advisory systems designed to use expertise are better placed to incorporate scientific knowledge into their decisions in times of acute crisis than are countries with policy advisory systems that relied primarily on evidence before the COVID-19 crisis.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: What Does Ebp Look Like In Germany Switzerland and Italy?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: What Does Ebp Look Like In Germany Switzerland and Italy?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Evidence-Based Policymaking in Times of Acute Crisis: Comparing the Use of Scientific Knowledge in Germany, Switzerland, and Italy

Hadorn

Sager

Mavrot

et al. 2022

Polit Vierteljahresschr

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This temporary, technocratic, executive‐controlled policy advisory body was (and still is at the time of our writing) responsible for the overall management of the Covid‐19 crisis response and for coordinating the handling of the interventions with the regions (which are in charge of implementing most of the response policies). Six other task forces were set up for handling policy‐specific emergency responses: one coordinating financial support measures (‘liquidity task force’); the ‘COVID‐19 data management’ task force; the ‘Unit for monitoring the spread of fake news related to COVID‐19’; the Committee of Economics and Social Experts (CEES; also known as the Colao Commission); the ‘Women task force’, and, finally, the ‘Committee of Experts’ at the Ministry of Education (Galanti & Saracino 2021). At the height of the crisis (on 18 March), a special Covid‐19 Commissioner (Domenico Arcuri) was appointed to manage the Covid emergency, including the supply of medical equipment and the management of the EU Solidarity Fund (Bull 2021).…”

Section: Issues In National Politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%