Local Governance Arrangements and Democratic Outcomes (with Some Evidence from the Italian Case)

Abstract

This article carries a broad definition of public-private concertation as a flexible form of governance that is able to overcome the distinction between network governance and participatory governance. It creates a unified framework relying on a process-related democratic approach in order to properly assess these practices in their democratic outcomes. This allows the article to fully depict how local governance arrangements affect local democracy, both positively and negatively. Drawing on four exemplary cases of urban policies developed in the Province of Milan, it highlights two variables that give account of the democratic implication of these practices: the role of the political leadership and the inclusive strategy that they adopt. Moreover, it underlines four additional factors that help more democratic outcomes: presence of cognitive justification, quality of participation, active opposition, and an outward communication.

Catholic Versus Communist: An Ongoing Issue—The Role of Organizational Affiliation in Accessing the Policy Arena

“…Moreover, given the low level of stakeholders' involvement at the national level, the local level best suits this research thanks to the recent growth of local governance. Since the late nineties, the sub-national dimension has become increasingly salient since it allows to address complex issues such as active labour policies, social inclusion and economic development, thanks to the use of a wider set of inclusive tools (Bassoli 2010). This shift from the national to the local level has been driven primarily by a new collaborative attitude, developed among politicians and strongly supported by political institutions, with the committed support of all civil societies which were finally able to access local policy making directly.…”

Participatory Democracy, Decentralization and Local Governance: the Montreal Participatory Budget in the light of ‘Empowered Participatory Governance’

“…Thus, not only has EPG contributed to bridging studies on participation and studies on governance (e.g. Melo and Baiocchi, 2006;Bassoli, 2010), but it has also helped to reformulate the question of the relationship between democracy and decentralization in the context of contemporary governance.…”

“…Finally, and perhaps significantly, EPG has 3 These studies are not specifically directed towards local governance arrangements (LGAs) (Grote, 2008). These arrangements, based on a consultative approach, require a more or less close and codified interaction between public and non-public actors, including social partners and citizens outside the direct political process (Bassoli, 2010). These points of view, which focus on the national level in order to address local situations such as urban renovation or social exclusion systematically, have failed to account for the democratic outcomes of new governance processes.…”

“…These points of view, which focus on the national level in order to address local situations such as urban renovation or social exclusion systematically, have failed to account for the democratic outcomes of new governance processes. The concept of participation, while wanting to give more weight to the issues involved in participation and accurate accounting, has clearly contributed to the notion of participatory government (Bassoli, 2010) and remains a wide canvas, referring to all types of cooperation involving both private and public actors (Schmitter, 2002). In such a perspective, the inclusion of citizens in the decision-making process remains facultative.…”

“…The project is thus inextricably linked to discussions about governance that challenge ways in which decisions are made. However, while discussions about governance are concerned primarily with efficiency of decision making and with the redistribution of prerogatives and resources from the centre to other entities (Schmitter, 2002), EPG, in line with other studies on participative democracy, is first and foremost concerned with testing the democratic scope of these reconfigurations (Bassoli, 2010). 3 But this theoretical framework has not gone unchallenged.…”