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PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION EDUCATION IN ITALY:
A STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
DENITA CEPIKU *
MARCO MENEGUZZO
University of Rome “Tor Vergata”
Draft. Please do not quote or reproduce without the express permission of the authors. Comments welcome.
Conference of the European Group of Public Administration (EGPA)
19-22 September, 2007, INAP, Madrid, Spain
Study Group IX: Public Administration and Teaching
* Corresponding author: denita.cepiku@uniroma2.it
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Index
1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 3
2. Objectives, research procedures and methodology......................................................................... 4
3. Briefly on university education in Italy.......................................................................................... 6
4. Historical factors and international comparison of public administration education ..................... 7
4.1. Public administration as an academic field of study ................................................................... 7
4.2. Public administration education: an international comparison.................................................. 8
4.3. Public administration education in Italy: historical overview................................................... 11
5. Public administration education in Italian universities: the results of the quantitative analysis... 13
5.1. The levels and types of PA programs......................................................................................... 15
5.2. The disciplinary character of PA education programs.............................................................. 17
5.3. PA education clusters................................................................................................................. 22
5.4. Specificities of PA education in Italy ......................................................................................... 25
6. Key findings and areas for further research.................................................................................. 26
7. Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 27
8. Appendix: List of universities ...................................................................................................... 31
Acknowledgements and notes
We would like to thank Chiara Giordano and Gloria Fiorani, PhD candidates at the University of Rome Tor
Vergata, for their help with the data collection during the research.
The paper is the result of the coordinated work of the two authors. Denita Cepiku built up the database and wrote
paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 5; Marco Meneguzzo wrote paragraphs 4 and 6.
3
1. Introduction
The paper presents a statistical analysis exploring public administration (PA) education in
Italian universities. It contributes to the literature on PA education and training, developed in
specific countries (Lewanski, 2000; Molina, Cèsar, 2000; Pollitt, 1996; Randma, 2001;
Rhodes, 1996; Araújo, Alvarez, 2006; etc.) as well as in a comparative perspective (see for
example Verheijen, Connaughton, 1999; Toonen, Verheijen, 1999 for Europe and Kettl, 1998;
2001 for the US).
The literature has classified European countries according to the nature of PA education in
three clusters: a legal group of countries, where a strong emphasis is put on administrative law;
a public group, in which the PA is recognized to have a unique public and political character;
and, a corporate or managerial group focused on business management techniques (Hajnal,
2003). In most researches Italy belongs to the legal group of countries (Lewanski, 1999;
Kickert, 2005).
The paper aims at verifying if the administrative law approach to university-based PA
teaching is still prevalent in Italy, as well as the extent of development of other disciplinary
orientations. The research also highlights the main specificities of PA education in Italy with
reference to the disciplinary character, the geographical distribution, the type and level of PA
programs, etc. It aims at describing how universities are adjusting curricula in relation to
public sector modernization, by comparing the main faculties (economics and management
sciences, law, political sciences, sociology, engineering, sciences of communication, social
sciences) of all Italian universities.
A distinguishing element of the research is the simultaneous consideration and the
comparison of different disciplines: economics, management, law, political science, sociology,
sciences of communication and engineering, while existing literature often focuses only on
single disciplinary areas (Wise, 1999).
The paper relies on original and exhaustive data, which cover the whole population of Italian
universities and were collected between June and July 2007. The main source of information
are the didactic programs (the so-called “Manifesto degli studi”) approved by the faculties for
the most recent academic year (2007/08 or 2006/07).
Information from 205 faculties of 76 universities was gathered. 2.198 education programs at
different levels were analyzed and classified.
Overall evidence suggests that the legal cluster, including but not limited to administrative
law, is not the prevalent approach in teaching PA in Italy. The public cluster - mainly political
sciences and public economy approach - is instead widespread in Italian universities.
Furthermore, there is a strong, yet more recent, development of the managerial approach.
We find substantial variation within and between north, centre and south Italy. In general, an
insufficient supply of PA programs is registered in southern regions, which also put a greater
emphasis on doctoral education.
Two specificities of PA education in Italy include the prevalence of the juridical approach in
public accounting programs and the major political science disciplinary orientation of
programs in administrative science.
In the next paragraph we give account of the research methods and main steps. A short
description of the university education in Italy is offered in the third paragraph. The results of
the literature review, including the main historical specificities of PA education in Italy, are
presented in paragraph four. The fifth paragraph presents the main results of the statistical
quantitative analysis. These are commented in the last paragraph, which also highlights some
areas for further research.
4
2. Objectives, research procedures and methodology
The aim of the research is to explore the state of art of university-based PA education in Italy,
in several faculties.
The research questions include the following:
- Is the administrative law approach still prevalent in Italy?
- Which is the extent of the development of other disciplinary orientations?
- What are the main specificities of PA education in Italy?
To this end, the statistical analysis aims at answering the following questions:
- What levels and types of PA programs are offered by the different faculties?
- How are these programs distributed according to their disciplinary character?
- How are these programs distributed according to the different regions and
administrative cultures they embody?
- How are these programs distributed according to the three clusters identified by the
literature (public, legal and corporate)?
- How are these programs distributed, according to the specific topic dealt with
(analysis limited to the corporate cluster)?
The first stage of research was based on a literature review, which has helped to identify and
explore PA as an academic and scholar discipline in a comparative perspective. Furthermore,
the main characteristics of PA and management education in different political and social
contexts, as well as some historical drivers that have influenced the selection and training of
the administrative élite in Italy have been explored.
The second stage of the research - descriptive statistics - consisted in the collection and
analysis of PA programs taught in Italian universities. The whole population of PA programs
has been analyzed. The data were collected between June and July 2007 and draw on the
information available in the official didactic programs of the selected faculties of 76 Italian
universities, both public and private (see appendix). The six telematic universities were not
included for homogeneity reasons.
The construction of a “PA program database” specifically designed for the purpose of the
study included the following variables:
Name of the education program
Level of the program
o Undergraduate programs or “Corsi di Laurea” (1st and 2nd cycle, respectively
Bachelor’s degree 180 and Master’s degree 120 credits1) and courses or
“Insegnamenti”
o Professional graduate courses (1st and 2nd level Masters, 60 credits)
o Research-based courses (doctorates or PhDs).
Region
Name of the university
Type of the faculty2:
o Economics and/or Management
o Law
o Political sciences
1 According to the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS), a standard for comparing the
study attainment and performance of students of higher education across the European Union. One academic year
corresponds to 60 ECTS-credits that are equivalent to 1500-1800 hours of study in all countries irrespective of
standard or qualification type, in order to facilitate transfer and progression throughout the Union. Source:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/ socrates/ects/index_en.html.
2 Only universities having at least one of these faculties were considered.
5
o Sciences of communication
o Sociology
o Engineering
o Social (and human) sciences
Disciplinary orientation or character
o Law
o Economics
o Management
o Engineering
o Political sciences
o Sociology
o Communication
o Administration and governance of specific policy fields (local government,
healthcare, cultural heritage, welfare, universities, security, etc.)3
o Interdisciplinary
o Other
Education cluster:
o Public (includes programs which have a disciplinary orientation in Political
sciences, as well as in Sociology or Economics)
o Legal (covers programs which have a disciplinary orientation in Law)
o Corporate (takes in programs which have a disciplinary orientation in
Management as well as in Communication or Engineering)
Thematic focus or subject area (only for the corporate cluster):
o General public management
o Planning, budgeting and control
o Organization and human resources management
o Accounting and finance
o Accountability and social reporting
o e-Government
o Marketing and communication
o Market-type mechanisms (outsourcing, PPPs, privatization, regulation,
government-business relationships)
o Other issues
Number of ECTS-credits.
Only programs entirely dedicated to PA were taken into consideration. These were found in
187 out of 205 faculties.
We did not consider generic programs where some courses (or courses where some lectures),
are dedicated to PA, although we acknowledge the relevance of these programs.
Programs dealing with political aspects alone - such as the financing, the marketing and
communication of political parties, etc. - were also left out of the study. On the contrary,
programs dealing with the political-administrative boundary were considered.
We also did not include more specialized programs such as development studies (but did
include local or regional government development policies), environment protection (either
regulations or management), etc.
It is also worth explicating some terminological choices. Some studies have reported a shift
away from the term “public administration” apparent in several countries (Kettl, 1999; Wise,
3 The courses belonging to this category are centered on a specific sector or type of organization instead of a
disciplinary approach.
6
Pitts, 2003), also supported by empirical data (Wise, 1999)4. “Public administration” is here
used in a very wide sense, comprehending more bounded definitions such as those found in
political science, public management, administrative law, etc.
For the sake of further analysis, the programs have been grouped in undergraduate;
professional and mid-career training; and research programs (Wise, Pitts, 2003).
The seven types of faculty selected cover almost all the didactic supply on PA. Only in a few
cases, this classification leaves out new faculties. It is the case of the recently-established
cultural heritage faculties (two examples are the Macerata and the Lecce universities), which
have the merits of being of an interdisciplinary nature.
It was decided to analyze the programs according to a detailed classification of their
disciplinary character, which was identified independently of the faculty in which they are
taught. Three technical criteria were adopted: we tried to have a moderate number of
categories; a clear-cut distinction should be between categories; and we tried to use as much
as possible the same categorization used in previous researches (namely Hajnal, 2002; 2003).
At a second stage, the programs were grouped into the three well-known clusters. In general,
the legal cluster included the administrative, public, regional and local law, etc. programs.
The public cluster included the programs having a political science disciplinary orientation.
The corporate cluster included programs classified under the management discipline.
The classification of the other programs was done on a case by case basis. Very often,
programs in sociology and economics were classified in the public cluster, while
communication and engineering programs went within the corporate one.
The counting of programs and courses was done according to their weight in ECTS-credits5.
3. Briefly on university education in Italy
Italian universities have a long history, beginning in mediaeval times with the establishment
of the university of Salerno in the IX century, and the university of Bologna in 1088. Other
universities were founded in the following centuries: the university of Padova in 1222, and
two years later the university of Naples founded by Frederick II, the university of Florence,
founded in 1308, then the universities of Pisa, Pavia and Turin (Wikipedia, 2007).
Higher education is provided by universities, technical universities, university institutes, as
well as by a wide range of academies, higher institutes/schools and by a number of
professional training institutions. Most of the existing university institutions were established
directly by the State, while a limited number, originally set up by private entities, were later
recognized by the relevant Ministry.
At the time of writing (2007), the university system includes 87 university institutions of
different type6.
Italy has adopted in 1999 the so-called 3+2 system, although the adjusting process is going on
even as of 2007 (Figure 1).
The first degree is the “Corso di Laurea triennale” that can be achieved after 3 years of studies.
Students can then complete two more years of specialization or the “Corso di Laurea
4 A few notes on PA as an academic modern discipline or field of study are found in paragraph fourth.
5 Few programs could not be included in the database: 15 single courses (3 at the engineering faculty of the
Modena university and 12 at the economics faculty of the Parma university) for which it was not possible to determine
the amount of credits; two doctoral programs at the social sciences faculty of the Lecce university, as it was impossible
to identify their disciplinary orientation. Finally, doctoral programs organized jointly by two or more universities were
counted only once.
6 Cfr. UNESCO, International Association of Universities, World Higher Education Database (WHED), Italy -
Education system: http://www.unesco.org.
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specialistica” (now called Magistrale). The five (3+2) years correspond to a Master’s degree7
and give access to third cycle programs (second level masters and doctorates). The “dottorato
di ricerca” (doctorate) requires 3 or 4 years of work8.
Figure 1: University education in Italy
1st level Master
1 year – 60 ECTS
2nd level Master
1 year – 60 ECTS
1st level undergraduate
Bachelor’s degree
“Laurea triennale”
3 years – 180 ECTS
2nd level undergraduate
Master’s degree
“Laurea specialistica”
2 years – 120 ECTS
Doctoral program
“Dottorato di ricerca”
3 or 4 years – 180 or 240
ECTS
Postgraduate courses
“Corsi di specializzazione /
perfezionamento”
1 or 2 years - 60 or 120
ECTS
Advanced scientific research
Professional & mid-career training
Undergraduate education
1st level Master
1 year – 60 ECTS
2nd level Master
1 year – 60 ECTS
1st level Master
1 year – 60 ECTS
2nd level Master
1 year – 60 ECTS
1st level undergraduate
Bachelor’s degree
“Laurea triennale”
3 years – 180 ECTS
2nd level undergraduate
Master’s degree
“Laurea specialistica”
2 years – 120 ECTS
Doctoral program
“Dottorato di ricerca”
3 or 4 years – 180 or 240
ECTS
Postgraduate courses
“Corsi di specializzazione /
perfezionamento”
1 or 2 years - 60 or 120
ECTS
Advanced scientific research
Professional & mid-career training
Undergraduate education
Advanced scientific research
Professional & mid-career training
Undergraduate education
4. Historical factors and international comparison of public administration
education
4.1. Public administration as an academic field of study
The literature acknowledges a strong relationship between the processes of PA reform and the
features of the PA education and training system in a country and PA education and PA as a
field of practice definitively correlate (Hajnal, 2002: 15).
Mosher (1982) considers the education system as the most important element of an evolving
administrative culture, by which public service ethos, frame of reference and knowledge are
transmitted. The nature and quality of the public service heavily depends upon the nature and
quality of the system of education (Connaughton, Randma, 2002: 2).
There is a rich literature on the intellectual foundations of PA (Dahl 1947; Mosher 1956;
Charlesworth 1968; Heady 1979; Guerreiro Ramos 1981; Daneke 1990; Riggs 1991; Bailey
and Mayer 1992; Bogason, Brans, 2005). The discipline continues to be characterized by “the
ahistorical, instrumental, voluntaristic, parochial, and state-centered nature of its approaches
and explanations” (Baltodano, 1997).
Three fundamental elements influence, either directly or indirectly, the curricula of PA in
different countries (Connaughton, Randma, 2002):
7 It should not be confounded with Italian “masters”, less popular second cycle degrees which do not give access to
doctorates. 1st Level Masters can be pursued by those who hold at least a “Laurea triennale” or Bachelor’s degree,
while 2nd Level Masters (Magister Philosophiae) require also the two-years specialization degree before entry.
8 Cfr. http://www.unesco.org/iau/onlinedatabases/systems_data/it.rtf. Cfr. also Wikipedia. Last modified on 3 June
2007.
8
• The concept of the State and the State tradition, which is far stronger in Europe as
compared to the United States. Furthermore, there is a wide diversity of State
tradition within Europe, which have a direct impact on the development of PA
education.
• The identity (crisis) of PA as a discipline, which is academic and professional at the
same time and requires a variety of approaches to understand PA (Raadschelders,
1999). This diversity is its greatest strength and its most serious limitation
(Denhardt, 1990). It also implies that the survival of PA as a distinct field of study
will depend on the ability to develop techniques, concepts, rhetoric and vision
which are of perceived use to governments and public servants (Pollitt, 1996; Kettl,
1998).
• The multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary character9 which, together with the
continuous evolving nature of government and government-society relations,
disallow the development of a unified body of theory. This lack of unity, especially
evident in Europe as compared to the United States, is primarily due to historical
and cultural paths of different countries. One clear indicator is the predominance of
public law in European continental countries and its absence in the UK.
4.2. Public administration education: an international comparison
The national attributes of PA education systems are described below following the literature
of different countries.
The review of the literature on PA as a scholarly field has highlighted many researches
developed on a national basis and very few as truly comparative. Even less provide empirical
quantitative evidence on PA education.
Exceptions include the two inventories of PA education in the EU states and Norway, carried
out by the Thematic Network in Public Administration and transformed into a quantitative
analysis by Hajnal (2002).
It is also worth mentioning, for the United States, the Peterson’s Guide of programs in PA,
public affairs, public health, public history, and public policy. An analysis of the evolution of
PA programs from 1980 to 1995 in terms of number of programs and students enrolled has
been performed by Wise (1999). Qualitative comparisons can be found in Wise and Pitts
(2003) and Connaughton, Randma (2002).
Wise and Pitts (2003) offer an interesting comparison of PA as an academic field in different
countries. For many countries, the roots for PA are found in political science as for the United
States, Canada, New Zealand and Australia, and Taiwan, even though, other disciplines have
contributed to the development of the field over the last fifty years. The linkage between the
study of PA and business is less frequently found in Australia and New Zealand, where the
former is mostly taught in departments of politics. Administrative law is the dominant
influence on the development of PA in parts of Western Europe (Germany, France), most of
Eastern Europe, Japan and Korea. Evidence of influence from administrative law is also
apparent in the United States, but in contrast there appears to be little link to law in Canada,
Australia, and New Zealand.
9 In interdisciplinary academic programs PA is studied from the integrated viewpoints of different disciplines,
generally those of political science, law, economics and sociology, with PA being the core subject of the program.
Since the 1970s the ideas of New Public Management have become established, and many countries have included
management and business administration perspectives to PA education (Toonen, Verheijen, 1999).
9
In the United States, PA as an academic modern discipline tracks back to both academic
political science and law as a separate study in the 1910s10. It arises in a political controversy
between democratic control of government and competent achievement of governmental ends
(Williams, 2003)11.
It is worth mentioning the Training School at the Bureau of Municipal Research (1911),
affiliated with Columbia University, the City College of New York (1916), Georgetown
University (1920), the School of Citizenship at Syracuse University (1924), the University of
Michigan, and the University of Chicago (1916). Many early academics were affiliated with
political science, although disciplinary boundaries were not strong in 1900, so they could
easily be published in multiple disciplines. This early training and academic focus formed the
core of the subsequent discipline (Williams, 2003).
In the last generation, PA has been replaced with fields of study like implementation, public
management, and formal bureaucratic theory and few of the top political science departments
offer courses in the field (Kettl, 1998).
PA as a subfield within political science has two problems: it has methodologically lagged
behind; and the subfield’s theoretical work seems not to define it. As PA has sought respect
within the discipline, it has risked distancing itself too much from practice, with “reinventers”
often looking outside PA for answers to government management problems.
The management of intergovernmental programs, contracts, loans and regulations has not
received attention proportionate to government’s growing reliance on them (Kettl, 1998).
Nowadays, a better identification of the mission of PA education represents a challenge due to
the increasing weight of non-governmental partners in performing several public tasks, the
globalization process and the growing presence of participatory elements in the policy process
(Kettl, 2001). The three fundamental approaches to PA teaching in the United States (i.e. the
PA, the management and the public policy paradigms) give a clear frame of reference but are
unable to address these challenges (Hajnal, 2002). Nonetheless, PA has become more, not less
important, to political science (Kettl, 1998).
In Canada, there is much disagreement about whether the study of PA can properly be called
a discipline, largely because it is often viewed as a subfield of the disciplines of political
science and administrative science (or administration). The study of PA has evolved primarily
as a subfield of political science. The broad field of administration is divided into public,
business, hospital, educational and other forms of administration, which are considered to be
more similar than different (Kernaghan, Siegel, 1995).
There is, however, increasing recognition of PA as a separate field of study, which is reflected
in the creation within universities of schools of PA which combine elements of the two earlier
approaches. PA is taught as an interdisciplinary subject by political scientists, economists,
sociologists and others.
Nowadays, schools or faculties of PA exist at several universities across Canada; the oldest
and largest of these include the Queen’s University of Victoria and the École National
d’Administration (Québec) (Kernaghan, 2007).
PA as an academic field of study in Europe, notably England and Germany (Max Weber),
started as a separate scholarly field in the 1890s, but it was first taught in continental
universities in the 1720s. It has developed as an academic field in the past four decades (e.g.
in Italy, Finland, Germany, Belgium and the UK, new programs in PA were established
between 1955 and 1970) (Yan, Brans, 2004).
10 Cfr. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_administration
11 Cfr. also Lynn 1996; Waldo 1948, 1955; White 1965a, 1965b, 1965c; White, Schneider 1965.
10
PA in continental Europe has predominantly been a legal study. Following the World War II
and the development of the welfare state, other disciplinary perspectives entered the study.
The French, Germans, Italians, Dutch and the Scandinavians developed a conception of PA
with its intellectual roots in philosophy, law, sociology, economics, political science, history
and so forth. This marked a resurrection of the separate study of PA in the form of a more
social science oriented field of study. Therefore, in Western Europe it is a relatively young
field of science (Stillman, 1999) and it does not represent a regional model of its own due to
the variations in administrative culture and the stronger dominance of a legal orientation and
analysis of the use of public power in Southern Europe in comparison to Northern Europe,
and across the English Channel to a British tradition of pragmatic analysis (Connaughton,
Randma, 2002). In the United Kingdom, PA is still more a North American satellite than a
core European state (Pollitt, 1996).
In the Iberian Peninsula, PA was taught in law faculties until the middle XIX century in
Portugal and until the second half of the XX century in Spain. Although we can track the
origins of the studies in the Old regime and connect them to the political science approach
(Spain) and basically the French influence (Portugal) (Araújo, Alvarez, 2006: 9-14). In the
1970s, there is a methodological opening (sociology, economics, political law, bureaucracy
and personnel management) and a stronger influence of administrative sciences (linked to
political sciences and sociology) rather then administrative law. A further development has
been the analysis of public policies and studies on public management
Currently, PA education in Spain is an ill-defined interdisciplinary field based in political
science, economics, law and sociology. Issues such as administrative reform, modernization,
participation, performance, etc. appear as transversal matters gathering specialists with any of
those backgrounds (Ballart, 2007).
Researches have highlighted that the European dimension of PA education is underdeveloped
and that very few universities have courses in European integration and comparative PA in
their core curriculum12. This evidence contrasts with the relevance of adequate administrative
capacities as a key requirement for EU membership. The creation of new PA programs in the
states of Central and Eastern Europe as well as the increasing interactions between
administrations across Europe could give the discipline a further impetus to develop its own
identity and approach (Connaughton, Randma, 2002).
Future perspectives of the PA as a field of study in Europe are bounded by uncertainty and the
“membership” of the European countries to the three clusters established by the literature is
becoming more and more questionable.
Figure 2 gives an overview of the developments since the II World War, which appear as a
shift of several countries from the predominant legal area towards the political science or the
management areas (Hajnal, 2003).
12 We refer to the two inventories of PA education in the EU states and Norway, carried out by the SOCRATES-
sponsored Thematic Network in Public Administration (TNPA, now EPAN), which analyzed the general composition
of some PA programs with the aim of highlighting to what extent the European dimension of PA studies was included
in core curricula and compulsory courses. Cfr. Verheijen, Connaughton, 1999; Verheijen, Nemec, 2000. The focus of
the TNPA national reports undertaken during 1998-2000 is on comprehensive accounts of the development of PA
programs within the national context with specific reference to courses with a European and comparative dimension.
The reports list courses but the references to theory courses are vague and there are also very limited references to the
national literature. For subsequent elaborations see Hajnal, 2002.
11
Figure 2: PA curricula in Europe. A move away from legalism
LEGAL
PA as implementation of legal
regulations
• Continental Europe (until WWII)
• Mediterranean & southern
Europe countries (Greece, Italy,
Portugal)
• Several post-communist
countries (Hungary, Poland,
Romania, Yugoslavia)
• German-speaking countries
Business
administration &
Management
PA as a production
problem
•UK
•Ireland
• Nordic countries
Political & administrative
sciences
Uniquely political and
public character of PA
• Continental Europe
(France, northern and
western European
countries, Belgium,
Spain, Sweden)
Some post-
communist &
Baltic countries
Some European
Mediterranean
and continental
countries LEGAL
PA as implementation of legal
regulations
• Continental Europe (until WWII)
• Mediterranean & southern
Europe countries (Greece, Italy,
Portugal)
• Several post-communist
countries (Hungary, Poland,
Romania, Yugoslavia)
• German-speaking countries
Business
administration &
Management
PA as a production
problem
•UK
•Ireland
• Nordic countries
Political & administrative
sciences
Uniquely political and
public character of PA
• Continental Europe
(France, northern and
western European
countries, Belgium,
Spain, Sweden)
Some post-
communist &
Baltic countries
Some European
Mediterranean
and continental
countries
Source: Based on information from: Hajnal, 2002; Seibel, 1999; Toonen, Verheijen, 1999; Ballart, 1999.
A relevant area of future research would be the development of PA teaching in countries still
considered to belong to the legal cluster: mainly Italy, Austria, Germany and Switzerland on
the one hand, and some post-communist countries on the other. Will these countries remain in
the legal area or will they change the patterns of their education systems? If so, which
influence will be the strongest: the Anglo-Saxon (and in part Nordic) or the continental
Europe one? Furthermore, will the growing weight of European Union administrative
structures impose a certain degree of convergence?
4.3. Public administration education in Italy: historical overview
Any analysis of the PA field of study in Italy requires a description of the historical context in
which it developed. The distinctive national characteristics of the study of PA and public
management in Italy are explained by the historical evolution of PA in Italy; the coexistence
of competing disciplines in the study of PA and the traditional domination of the
administrative law approach; the recent influence of the Anglo-American managerial
approach, New Public Management ideas, and the Italian managerial theory “economia
aziendale” (Meneguzzo, 2007).
Italian PA is the result of the cross-fertilization of different administrative cultures including
the Rechtsstaat tradition (Austro-Hungarian derived Lombardia and Veneto), bureaucratic
Napoleonic traditions (Piemonte and Sardinia), and weak-State models more similar to the
Vatican State and the Two-Sicilies realm (South Italy).
12
These administrative cultures embody vastly differing visions of institutional and
organizational models, and a diversity of relationships between PA, citizens/civil society and
other social and economical actors. These cultures further influence more minor themes such
as public accounting and the management of public assets. This can be seen in northern
regions where attention was given to openness and clarity of bureaucratic processes and on
the delivery of basic public services such as waste and garbage collection, road maintenance,
and public lighting. Here the philanthropy of the aristocracy and bourgeoisie played and
strong role in the provision of social services and healthcare.
In contrast, the southern civil servants were known for their arbitrariness and free-riding
behaviors which determined the low quality of public services and a greater distance between
the government and the citizens (Meneguzzo, 2007).
While the Piedmont in north-western Italy played a leading role in shaping the unified
administration, institutional modernization efforts took place earlier and more obviously in
other pre-unified States. East of Piedmont, in the Lombardo-Veneto region, a social class of
bureaucrats was developed following a formalized fostered by the Austro-Hungarian empire
featuring educational requirements for entry, career mobility, and ethical principles.
In the Naples realm and the Kingdom of Two Sicilies, the main Bourbonic laws (1816 and
1817) were in line with the previous French tradition. There were differences between formal
rules, based on professional bureaucracy and territorial mobility, and their real application
(prevalence of personnel with aristocratic origins). In other States - such as the Vatican - there
was general lack of formal norms regulating the organization and functioning of public
offices.
The Italian bureaucracy from the unification to 1900 was characterized by small size and
high uniformity, including most of the employees coming from the Piedmont administration.
Career paths were mainly hierarchical with high integration between bureaucrats and
politicians. It was only in 1908 that a civil servants statute was adopted, as a consequence of
a major conflict due to increasing size and function of the government, as well as the
increasingly socially and culturally diverse public employees with the increasing number of
civil servants from the former Kingdom of Two Sicilies and from the former Vatican State.
Public employment increased as a consequence of the expansion of the role of the State in the
economy and the increase of employees from the South is simultaneous to this expansion.
Selection and training were carried out by the administration itself, which brought about the
isolation of bureaucracy. Administrative elites such as those developed in France and the
United Kingdom (Cassese, 1983) were all but nonexistent, and the closeness of career paths
didn’t allow to develop an education system similar to the ENA in France. Needless to say,
Italy have not established PA education traditions such as the French grands corps or the
English Oxbridge.
Italian PA has traditionally been dominated by administrative and public law while hesitant
initiatives aimed at introducing scientific management principles encountered obstacles
related to a formalistic and juridical culture.
Studies in the field of PA in Italy have been influenced by the juridical culture, both for
historical reasons and because administrative law was (and is) required for recruitment at the
higher levels of the public sector13. Only in the last three decades has PA began to be
analyzed by the social sciences (political science, sociology as well as economics and
management) (Lewanski, 1999; Meneguzzo, 2007). The administrative sciences approach has
13 One of the most important public competitions for the access to management positions in the public sector (the
so-called corso-concorso) organized by the National School for Public Administration is based on an exam including
queries on administrative law; constitutional law; EU legislation; private law; labor legislation; political economy;
public economics; national accounting; statistics; contemporary history; public management and foreign languages.
Cfr. http://www.sspa.it/index.php?a=12.
13
developed inside the administrative law and the public accounting areas, along with the
development of organizational sociology, political sciences, public policy analysis, and finally
the economia aziendale approach.
In literature administrative law is still widely considered the most or even the only relevant
study of administration. A political science based administrative science, like in the United
States and north-western Europe is rare in Italy, while the study of public management has
only emerged in the last two decades (Kickert, 2005).
Cotta (1996) offers an interesting historical analysis on the Italian faculty of political sciences.
It is depicted as a multifaceted unit which covers a variety of disciplinary areas: the main ones
are sociology, contemporary history, constitutional and international law, economics, political
philosophy and history of political ideas, statistics and political science stricto sensu.
Especially after the II World War, faculties of political sciences began to spread in other
universities, but quite often the first step was to create a program of political sciences under
the umbrella of the more well established law faculties. With time such programs have
generally managed to become autonomous faculties from the faculties of law.
Political science as a specific and autonomous discipline has gained a role in the university
curricula only since the 1960s, although in the Italian academic tradition the disciplines of
political philosophy, history of political ideas and state theory (the German Staatslehre) had
existed long before the appearance of political science (Cotta, 1996).
Regarding the economic faculties, it is worth mentioning the Corso di Laurea in PA and
international institutions economics introduced first in the faculties of economics of the
Bocconi and Tor Vergata Universities14. Although featuring a more management-oriented
approach, the program represented an optimal allocation of courses in terms of legal,
economic, managerial and statistical areas. Furthermore, there were specific courses in PA
and the history of administration, as well as in international institutions15.
5. Public administration education in Italian universities: the results of the
quantitative analysis
The research explored the university-based PA education in Italy. Information from 205
faculties of all 76 Italian universities was gathered. 2.198 education programs of different
levels were analyzed and classified.
Universities and faculties are distributed in geographical terms as shown in Table 1. Although
universities are allocated evenly between north, centre and south, central Italy universities
have fewer faculties. Nonetheless, the distribution of programs (in terms of credits) follows a
different pattern as shown in Figure 3.
Table 1: Geographical distribution of universities
Geographical area Number of Universities Number of Faculties
North 31 80
Centre 20 54
South & Islands 25 71
Total 76 205
14 “Economia delle amministrazioni pubbliche e delle istituzioni internazionali” also known as CLAPI.
15 Unfortunately, this four-years program has disappeared with the Bologna process. At the University of
Rome Tor Vergata it has been substituted by the three-years “Economics of public administration and
regulation” (Economia dei servizi, amministrazioni pubbliche, e regolamentazione) and the two-years “Social
and economic sciences with an orientation in Public economics and regulation” (Scienze economiche e sociali -
economia pubblica e regolamentazione).
14
The supply of programs regarding PA is greater in north Italy, especially if compared with the
south16 (Figure 3). Most of the programs are distributed among Lombardia (20%) and Lazio
(15,9%) regions, followed by Toscana (10,7%) and Marche (7,5%).
This can be explained by considering the number of civil servants (Figure 4). According to
the annual report on PA of the National statistics institute, 37% of them work in northern
regions, 21% in the centre, 41% in the south (Istat, 2005: 43)17. Although with a high level of
approximation18, it can be observed an adequate supply of PA programs in the north, a weak
development in the central regions and an absolutely undersized situation in the south.
Figure 3: Geographical distribution of PA
programs
Figure 4: Geographical distribution of civil
servants (% on data per 1,000 inhabitants,
Istat, 2005)
North
38,0%
Centre
35,9%
South
26,1%
North
37,0%
South
41,6%
Centre
21,4%
187 faculties out of 205 - distributed among economics, law, political science, sciences of
communication, sociology, engineering and social sciences - have programs in PA (Figure 5).
The program levels (Bologna system) included undergraduate programs (Bachelor’s and
Master’s degree) and courses; 1st and 2nd level Masters; and PhD programs (Table 2).
All the programs were classified in several categories regarding the level, the type
(undergraduate; professional training; and research programs); the disciplinary nature (law,
economics, management, engineering, political science, sociology, communication,
interdisciplinary and governance of specific policy fields) and the education cluster: public,
legal or corporate.
A further categorization for the corporate cluster distinguished the programs in terms of
subject area in: general public management; planning, budgeting and control; organization
and human resources management; accounting and finance; accountability and social
reporting; e-Government; marketing and communication; market-type mechanisms.
16 If not specified, “south” is intended to include the two islands of Sardinia and Sicily.
17 Elaborations on data of civil servants per 1,000 inhabitants. Another dimension which can be considered, though
less precise than the number of civil servants, is the number of public organizations. According the same source,
67,7% of all the central administrations are concentrated in the Lazio region and 9,1% in Lombardia. Local
governments are more numerous in Lombardia (18%) and Piemonte (14%), followed by Veneto and Campania (both
with 7%) (Istat, 2005: 35).
18 It should be considered that PA programs, especially master programs which offer professional and mid-career
training, are attended not only by civil servants but also by consultants or unemployed. As it will be shown later on,
only 20% of professional programs are taught in the south.
15
Figure 5: Distribution of faculties by type (nr & %)
Social sciences
7
3%
Engineering
42
20%
Sciences of
communication
5
2%
Political sciences
32
16%
Sociology
6
3%
Law
52
25%
Economics
61
31%
For the sake of exhaustiveness, all types of programs were considered. It should be noticed
however that these are of a different nature and weight. For instance, a single course of 5
credits in public management has a different relevance of a PhD program of 180 credits in the
same topic. Therefore, the calculations were performed by considering the credits, instead of
the number of programs.
Undergraduate programs - Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees - were considered (and counted)
separately from single courses. In several elaborations we chose the more detailed
information on courses.
5.1. The levels and types of PA programs
Table 2 illustrates the distribution of the 2198 PA programs by level. Pre-graduate courses
have more credits (45,1%) as compared to professional training (28,6%) and research-based
education (26,2%).
There are 1846 undergraduate courses in PA in Italy. Most of them are taught inside
bachelor’s or master’s programs (Bologna system): we counted 191 of this kind.
There is a prevalence of II-level master programs (Master Philosophie) over I-level masters,
which, together with the high number of enrolled students in the master’s degree, represent an
indicator of the failure of the so-called Bologna system in Italy.
There are 38 doctoral programs in Italy. Of these, 22 are developed around political science
and public economics issues; 10 regard administrative and public law; and 6 are in managerial
issues.
Table 2: PA teaching programs by level
Level of program Number of programs Amount of credits (ECTS)
Bachelor’s degree 121 21780
Master’s degree 70 8400
Single course 1846 11763
Masters I level 70 4200
Masters II level 53 3320
PhDs 38 6840
Total 2198 56303
16
The amount of PA programs taught in economic faculties is larger then programs taught in
and in political sciences and law faculties (Figure 6). This result is quite interesting but it
doesn’t take into account the disciplinary character of the programs, which will be considered
in the next paragraph. In other words, the over 37% of PA programs taught in economic
faculties includes also course and programs in administrative or public law.
An important data is represented by the nearly 5% of the programs organized jointly by
different faculties. Again, this is something different from the interdisciplinary character of
the programs. Only 21,7% of the interfaculty programs have an interdisciplinary character.
Figure 6: Distribution of PA programs by type of faculty
Sociology
3,9%
Social sciences
1,6%
Sciences of
Communication
1,8%
Engineering
3,6%
Interfaculty
4,6%
Economics
37,4%
Law
23,2%
Political
Sciences
23,9%
The programs can be distinguished in pre-graduate, professional and mid-career training, and
research oriented. An overview of their distribution across the faculties is given in the Figure
7. Professional training is very often organized jointly by two or more faculties and it is
prevalent in communication faculties, where we didn’t find research-based programs in PA.
On the contrary, research or doctoral programs have a significant weight in law, political
sciences and economic faculties.
Figure 7: The distribution (%) of program types across faculties
Economics
Law
Political sciences
Engineering
Sociology
Sciences of Communication
Social sciences
Interfaculty
Pre-graduate Professional and mid-career training Research-based
17
In the framework of undergraduate education, it is worth distinguishing between single
courses and degrees (either Bachelor’s or Master’s programs). The existence of specific
degrees in PA could exemplify a more sustainable or “institutionalized” interest in the topic.
It is the case of political sciences faculties (39,3%), as well as economics (33,1%) and law
(16%) (Figure 8).
Figure 8: Undergraduate programs by faculty
35,7%
17,1%
37,1%
0,0% 1,4% 2,9% 1,4% 4,3%
30,4%
14,9%
41,4%
0,0% 1,7% 0,8% 5,0% 5,8%
Ec onomics Law Political
Sciences
Engineering Sociology Sc iences of
Co mmun ic a t io n
Social
sciences
Interfac ulty
Bachelor’s degrees Master’s degrees
Figure 9 shows the allocation of programs in north, centre and south Italy. Southern
universities are distinguished by a greater emphasis on research-based programs as compared
to professional training.
Figure 9: The geographical distribution (%) of program types
48,0%
30,2%
21,8%
44,8%
32,2%
23,0%
41,0%
22,0%
37,0%
North Centre South
Pre-graduate Professional and mid-career training Research-based
5.2. The disciplinary character of PA education programs
While information on faculties presented in the previous paragraph is pertinent, it is even
more interesting to describe PA programs in terms of their disciplinary character.
What we find is a more balanced picture, with law-oriented programs counting for 31%,
economic and management counting together for 29,7% and political sciences and sociology
at 11,2% (Figure 10).
18
Figure 10: The disciplinary character of PA programs
Other
0,4%
Interdisciplinary
6,9%
Specific sector
17,2%
Law
31,1%
Sociology
1,9%
Communication
2,2% Political
sciences
9,3%
Engineering
1,4%
Management
12,6%
Economics
17,1%
The distribution of PA programs inside the disciplinary areas is not homogeneous. A greater
detail is given in Figure 11. It is easy to detect that law-oriented programs concentrate on the
pre-graduate area, while professional and mid-career training is quite underdeveloped in this
disciplinary area. This may be explained by the fact that Italian civil servants are mostly
graduated in law and want to develop other kind of competencies19.
It is also worthy to mention the high rate of 1st and 2nd level masters focused on the
administration and governance of specific policy sectors and characterized by a special kind
of interdisciplinarity developed around policy problems.
Finally, if we consider the weight of PhD programs as an indicator predicting the
development of the disciplinary area, we can notice that economics and law are well placed
ahead, followed by political science and management.
Figure 11: The disciplinary character of PA programs by type
Economics
Management
Political sciences
Sociology
Engineering
Communication
Law
Specific sector
Interdisciplinary
Other
Pre-graduate Professional and mid-career training Research-based
19 A survey of the Italian Department of Public Administration could be usefully recalled. 99% of the 1,588 senior
civil servants interviewed in 2003 felt to lack managerial competencies.
19
Figure 12 analyses Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees according to their disciplinary orientation.
It is worth of note that, while the political science approach prevails as in the previous figure,
other disciplinary areas such as sociology or even law and economics seldom recognize PA as
a specific degree topic.
Figure 12: The disciplinary orientation of undergraduate degrees
7,1%
14,3%
30,0%
0,0%
12,9%
0,0%
5,7%
18,6%
11,4%
5,0% 14,0%
37,2%
3,3%
9,9%
0,0% 5,8%
15,7% 9,1%
Economics Manage
ment
Political
science
Sociology Law Engineering Comm-
unication
Specific
sectors
Inter-
disciplinary
Bachelor’s degree Master’s degree
Another area of analysis is the relationship between the type of faculty and the disciplinary
area. A general overview is given in Figure 13 and a greater detail is found in Figure 14.
Figure 13: The disciplinary character of PA programs by faculty
Economics
Political Sciences
Sociology
Law
Engineering
Sciences of communication
Social sciences
Econom ics
Management
Political science
Sociology
Law
Engineering
Comm unication
Specific sectors
Interdisciplinary
The faculties of law and sciences of communication are the most homogeneous. Juridical
programs in PA are the most present in the different faculties and play a central role in the
faculties of political sciences and of social sciences.
20
Figure 14: The disciplinary character of PA programs by type of faculty
28,6%
29,7%
1,1%
0,2%
13,3%
0,0%
0,1%
23,2%
3,8%
Economics
Management
Political
science
Sociology
Law
Engineering
Communication
Specific
sectors
Interdisciplinary
Economics
13,1%
6,0%
1,3%
29,6%
0,0%
1,9%
8,9%
3,0%
36,2%
Economics
Management
Political
science
Sociology
Law
Engineering
Communication
Specific
sectors
Interdisciplinary
Political Sciences
0,60%
7,00%
7,10%
13,00%
9,50%
0,00%
3,10%
41,80%
17,90%
Economics
Management
Political
science
Sociology
Law
Engineering
Communication
Specific
sectors
Interdisciplinary
Sociology
7,8%
1,6%
1,1%
3,5%
74,5%
0,0%
0,1%
4,1%
7,2%
Economics
Management
Political
science
Sociology
Law
Engineering
Communication
Specific
sectors
Interdisciplinary
Law
0,6%
2,7%
0,0%
0,4%
12,5%
31,6%
0,0%
16,8%
35,4%
Economics
Management
Political
science
Sociology
Law
Engineering
Communication
Specific
sectors
Interdisciplinary
Engineering
3,6%
3,8%
3,6%
2,5%
6,3%
0,0%
55,7%
23,7%
0,8%
Economics
Management
Political
science
Sociology
Law
Engineering
Communication
Specific
sectors
Interdisciplinary
Sciences of communication
21
17,4%
2,9%
13,6%
9,2%
27,4%
2,4%
4,8%
22,3%
0,0%
Economics
Management
Political
science
Sociology
Law
Engineering
Communication
Specific
sectors
Interdisciplinary
Social sciences
The analysis of the disciplinary character of PA programs by geographical area (Table 3)
highlights the major weight of juridical programs in almost all regions, with the exception of
Lombardia, Campania and Sicilia, which have a strong presence of economic programs;
Toscana and Calabria with an emphasis on managerial programs; and Abruzzo where the
relevance of the political science approach is registered.
Table 3: The disciplinary character of PA programs by geographical area (%)
Economics Manage
ment
Political
science
Sociology Law Engin
eering
Commu
nication
Specific
sectors
Inter
disciplinary
Lombardia 20,6 9,7 10,1 0,7 28,3 1,2 2,6 17,1 9,8
Lazio 13,4 15,2 9,8 1,3 34,4 1,5 1,5 11,0 11,7
Toscana 6,8 21,3 9,4 0,3 33,4 2,4 4,6 21,5 0,3
Campania 40,3 8,2 10,0 0,9 28,3 2,9 0,0 9,4 0,0
Marche 5,3 9,1 6,3 14,0 31,6 0,0 3,8 0,0 29,9
Sicilia 39,4 16,1 5,9 0,0 33,5 4,7 0,0 0,4 0,0
Piemonte 11,4 4,5 14,5 1,1 21,4 0,0 0,7 37,7 8,6
Veneto 10,4 10,7 4,7 0,0 22,6 1,2 0,4 34,0 16,1
Emilia R. 10,3 32,1 7,9 0,0 34,2 0,0 0,0 15,0 0,5
Puglia 13,7 6,6 5,7 0,8 33,1 0,3 0,8 6,4 32,6
Abruzzo 7,6 6,7 43,3 2,0 18,3 0,0 7,1 15,0 0,0
Calabria 6,8 52,9 0,0 0,6 20,5 0,0 0,0 19,3 0,0
Molise 3,7 4,5 3,9 3,9 53,6 1,9 2,2 26,3 0,0
Umbria 6,2 14,0 13,2 0,0 43,5 0,0 14,4 8,8 0,0
Friuli V.G. 6,1 4,9 9,5 3,2 36,4 1,9 0,0 0,0 38,1
Liguria 16,6 6,5 19,1 2,7 52,0 0,0 0,0 3,1 0,0
Sardegna 7,9 6,0 12,0 0,0 71,8 0,0 0,0 2,3 0,0
Trentino A.A. 5,7 2,9 6,9 10,3 70,1 2,9 0,0 1,1 0,0
Valle D’Aosta 17,1 20,0 8,6 0,0 45,7 0,0 0,0 8,6 0,0
Basilicata 0,0 0,0 0,0 0,0 27,8 38,9 0,0 33,3 0,0
22
5.3. PA education clusters
This paragraph is focused on the distribution of PA programs according to the three clusters
identified by the literature: public, legal and corporate. As already mentioned, Italy is
classified by the literature among the legalistic group of countries. Our research shows that
the public cluster is the prevalent one in Italy (Figure 15).
Figure 15: PA education clusters
Legal
34%
Public
41%
Corporate
25%
This data, however, should be put in opposition to the information regarding the disciplinary
orientation (Figure 10). The final result consists in law being the predominant disciplinary
area (at 31,1%); but not the main cluster, which is the public one with 41%.
This can be easily explained by considering the high homogeneity of the legal cluster
(matching with law) and the high fragmentation of the other two clusters, especially the
public one, split into several different disciplines.
A closer look suggests some other differences in the composition of each cluster. While in the
legal cluster there is a prominence of pre-graduate programs, in the public cluster there is a
strong relevance of PhD programs and in the corporate cluster the emphasis is on professional
training (Figure 16).
Figure 16: PA education clusters by program type
63,9%
16,0%
20,0%
38,3%
20,6%
43,10%
30,1%
59,0%
15,40%
Legal Public Corporate
Pre-graduate courses Professional and mid-career training Research-based
However, pre-graduate education inside the legal cluster takes place through single courses,
while it is more “structured” into B.A.s and M.A.s in the other two clusters, in particular in
the public one (Figure 17).
23
Figure 17: Undergraduate degrees by disciplinary cluster
14,3%
51,4%
34,3%
11,6%
60,3%
28,1%
Legal Public Corporate
Bachelor’s degree Master’s degree
It is also worth to analyze the clusters by considering their relative weight inside the three
classical geographic areas. A north-centre-south comparison shows a greater weight of the
public cluster in the south and in the north, and an equilibrated interest towards the three
clusters in the centre. The corporate cluster is strong in central Italy and particularly weak in
the south (Figure 18).
Figure 18: PA education clusters: internal distribution by geographic area
33,4%
40,0%
26,6%
35,1% 33,1%31,7% 34,7%
45,0%
20,3%
North Centre South
Legal Public Corporate
At a greater detail, there is also a difference between the 20 Italian regions, as shown in the
next map (Figure 19 and greater detail in Table 4).
It doesn’t seem to exist an association between administrative cultures and traditions on the
one hand, and educational clusters on the other. Lombardia and Veneto are often considered
in the historical literature as regions which embody the Austro-Hungarian derived Rechtsstaat
tradition. We should therefore expect to find the dominance of the legal cluster. Nevertheless,
the public cluster includes over 44% of PA programs in Lombardia, compared to the 34% of
law; and 35% in Veneto (compared to 35,1% in law).
The Piemonte and Sardinia regions, both characterized by bureaucratic Napoleonic traditions,
show differentiated situations. In Piemonte we find a harmonized picture with the prevalence
of the corporate cluster (at 42,9%). In Sardinia the legal cluster is decisively predominant at
69,7%.
24
Finally, the weak-State model inherited by Lazio and Sicily and similar to the Vatican State
and the Two-Sicilies realm is characterized by a greater weight of the public cluster.
Figure 19: PA education clusters: regional distribution
Legal
Corporate
Public
Legal
Corporate
Public
Table 4: PA education clusters: regional distribution (%)
Legal Public Corporate
Basilicata 27,8 0,0 72,2
Valle D'Aosta 45,7 25,7 28,6
Trentino Alto Adige 68,9 25,6 5,6
Sardegna 69,7 19,9 10,4
Liguria 53,5 40,0 6,5
Friuli Venezia Giulia 36,4 56,9 6,8
Calabria 30,2 28,0 41,8
Umbria 45,1 21,6 33,3
Molise 53,6 12,7 33,7
Abruzzo 25,1 59,7 15,3
Puglia 39,1 52,4 8,5
Emilia Romagna 35,1 19,7 45,2
Veneto 35,1 35,0 29,9
Piemonte 34,7 22,4 42,9
Sicilia 33,5 45,7 20,8
Campania 28,3 57,7 14,0
Marche 32,6 41,8 25,6
Toscana 35,9 18,3 45,8
Lazio 34,6 40,4 25,0
Lombardia 31,7 44,5 23,8
25
A further analysis of the corporate cluster with reference to the specific subject areas of the
programs has highlighted the strong presence of programs dealing with public management in
general (over 50%), followed by programs in strategic planning and control and programs in
marketing and communication (Figure 20).
Figure 20: Subjects taught in corporate programs
Other issues
0,3%
Market-type
mechanisms
1,2%
Innovation
processes
7,7%
Marketing and
communication
10,8%
Accounting and
finance
2,4%
E-government &
ICTs
8,5%
Organization and
HRM
5,1%
Accountability and
social reporting
0,4%
Strategic
planning,
budgeting and
control
14,2%
General public
management
50,0%
Perhaps most noteworthy is the group of programs in innovation processes, entirely based on
professional training programs or master. Professional training is also prevalent in the other
main groups, with general public management programs including 49,4% of masters and
programs in strategic planning and in marketing and communication each including 63% of
masters.
5.4. Specificities of PA education in Italy
The disciplinary approach adopted in teaching issues such as accounting and administrative
sciences merits a further analysis.
We would expect accounting (public, regional or national) to be taught mainly in economic
faculties and adopting a managerial approach. However, 70% of programs in accounting are
characterized by a juridical approach.
Figure 21: The disciplinary orientation of accounting
70,0%
9,7%
20,4%
Legal Public Corporat e
26
Programs entitled “Scienza dell’amministrazione” include only undergraduate courses and
one Bachelor’s degree at the faculty of political sciences of the University of Palermo. 80% of
the courses pertain to the political science disciplinary area (therefore to the public cluster)
and are mainly taught in this kind of faculty. Nonetheless, there are nearly 20% of the courses
taught according to the legalistic approach (Figure 22).
Figure 22: The disciplinary orientation of courses entitled administrative sciences
Legal
19,6%
Public
80,4%
Corporate
0,0%
6. Key findings and areas for further research
PA as an academic field of study is going through a strong evolution in Italy. It can be
affirmed that Italy is at the beginning of an important shift from the legalistic approach. It is
not possible however to identify the direction of this evolution, although the continental
European approach, based on political and administrative sciences, seems to exert a stronger
influence in comparison to the Anglo-Saxon and partly Nordic managerial approach. On the
one hand, there is empirical evidence that the public/political science cluster is the prevalent
one, on the other the management/corporate cluster is experimenting an accelerated and
sustainable development.
The role of the main faculties
Findings from the statistical analysis highlight the strong development of PA programs in
faculties different from the law faculty. The greater commitment in PA programs is registered
in economic faculties (over 37%) and political sciences faculties. In these, especially political
sciences faculties, we found a greater presence of BAs and MAs, while the law faculties
supply tends to focus on single pre-graduate courses.
A relevant difference between these three main faculties is the level of homogeneity:
extremely high in law; and scant in economics and political sciences.
The disciplinary orientation
As far as the disciplinary orientation is concerned, juridical programs in PA are generally
prevalent (31%) and widespread also in economic and in political sciences faculties.
Surprisingly enough, PA programs approached by a management perspective amount to
nearly 13% and are placed between the economic (17%) and the political science approach
(9%). The management approach seems to be particularly strong in central regions.
However, if we aggregate the disciplinary approaches in clusters, as suggested by the
literature in the topic (Hajnal, 2003), we find that the public cluster, mainly based on political
science, is the main one (41%), both in terms of quantity of programs and in terms of
emphasis on doctoral education.
27
Geographical differences
The geographical comparison of the 20 Italian regions has highlighted the underdevelopment
of PA programs in south Italy, concerning mainly undergraduate and professional training.
Other specificities
Other specificities of PA education in Italy include two topics: public accounting on the one
hand, and administrative sciences in the other.
The former is commonly dealt with adopting a legal approach (70%) and the weak position of
the managerial approach is highlighted.
Administrative science is mainly approached by political science (80%), although law plays
an important role (20%).
Areas for further research
Given the dynamicity of the scenario, this statistical analysis represents a static, yet complete,
photography. Therefore, it should be updated in the mid-term in order to monitor the
development of the different disciplinary approaches and clusters.
Furthermore, the research could benefit of other information such as the number of enrolled
students. Data regarding student placements and career success, and regarding the relative
success of PA graduates in securing government employment would also be valuable.
The database could be usefully expanded in order to consider also professional training
institutes and academies operating at the national and regional levels. The main of them, at
the national level, include the National School of Public Administration (SSPA), the High
School of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (SSEF) and the High School of the Ministry
of the Interior.
Other important areas of further research include the comparison with other countries,
especially with Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Greece, in which PA education is
experimenting similar evolutions.
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8. Appendix: List of universities
Region Name of the university Nr. of
faculties
analyzed
Nr. of
faculties with
PA programs
Chieti-Pescara 2 2
Aquila 2 1
Abruzzo
Teramo 3 3
della Calabria 3 2 Calabria
Magna Grecia 1 1
Napoli II - Capua 3 2
Napoli L'Orientale 1 1
Napoli Federico II 5 5
Salerno 4 3
Suor Orsola Benincasa 1 1
Sannio di Benevento 3 2
Campania
Parthenope 3 2
Bologna 4 3
Ferrara 3 2
Modena e Reggio Emilia 4 3
Emilia Romagna
Parma 3 3
Udine 3 3 Friuli Venezia Giulia
Trieste 4 3
Roma - Tor Vergata 3 3
Roma - La Sapienza 6 6
Roma III 4 3
Cassino 3 3
Tuscia 2 2
San Pio V - Roma 2 2
Luiss - Roma 3 3
Lumsa - Roma 1 1
Università Europea di Roma 1 1
Lazio
Università "Campus Bio-Medico" Roma 1 1
Bocconi - Milano 2 2
Liuc - Castellanza 3 2
Iulm - Milano 1 1
Cattolica del Sacro Cuore - Milano 4 4
Insubria - Como Varese 2 2
Bergamo 3 3
Brescia 3 3
Milano 2 2
Milano Bicocca 3 3
Politecnico di Milano 1 1
Pavia 4 4
IUSS - Pavia 1 1
Lombardia
Istituto Universitario di Studi Superiori - Pavia 1 1
Camerino 1 1
Macerata 4 4
Carlo Bo - Urbino 4 4
Marche
Politecnica delle Marche 2 2
32
Molise del Molise 4 3
Torino 4 3
Orientale 3 3
Piemonte
Politecnico di Torino 1 1
del Salento - Lecce 4 4
Bari 3 3
Foggia 2 2
Politecnico di Bari 1 1
Puglia
Lum 2 2
Cagliari 4 3 Sardegna
Sassari 3 3
Palermo 4 4
Catania 4 3
Messina 4 3
Sicilia
Kore di Enna 3 3
Siena 4 3
Pisa 4 4
Firenze 4 4
Toscana
S.Anna di Pisa 1 2
Umbria Perugia 4 4
Ca' Foscari - Venezia 1 1
Padova 4 4
Veneto
Verona 2 2
Basilicata Università degli Studi della Basilicata 2 2
Liguria Università degli Studi di Genova 4 4
Valle D'Aosta Università della Valle D'Aosta 3 2
Università degli Studi di Trento 4 4 Trentino Alto Adige
Libera Università di Bolzano 3 3
Total number of faculties
205
187
