Theories and Research Methods for Public Administrations

The program consists of two Teaching Units (a-b), each of twenty hours.

Teaching Program - Unit (a)
The first Unit, with an introductory character, is devoted to the introduction of the toolkit for the analysis of Public Administration as a complex organization. After a description of the study object, that is the Public Administration as a central organization of the public sector, which uses technologies and human resources for the production of public policies, it
will be illustrated the main paradigms of organizational analysis useful for understanding public bureaucracies as complex organizations. Subsequently it will examine the new paradigms of administrative organization that are influencing the processes of change underway in the Public Administration, in Italy as well as in other Western countries.

Unit (a) - Topics
1. Public Administration, Public sector and Public Policies. The Public sector in a mixed economy society: different view points on the role of the State. The balance between Public and private sectors. Public sector size and policy making: financial dimension and economic impact of public policies on the State budget. Public policies, public administration and the political system: who decides what? Participants in policy process. Market failures, policy tools and public intervention options. Performance cycle, performance budgeting and spending programs. Public sector and public spending in Italy in comparison with the main Western countries. Data sources and databases for analysis and research on public policies. Administrative structures and public management: analysis, evaluation, choice. Institutional design, social impact assessment and administrative feedback.

2. Organizational analysis of the Public Administration: concepts and methods. Public bureaucracy as a rational organization: hierarchical line and Weberian bureaucratic ideatype. Organizations as systems: the relationship with the environment and the internal interaction system. The institutionalist approach: stability and change, power and heterogenesis of the ends. The economic analysis of organizations: transaction costs, agency theory, strategic behavior and opportunism of actors. The negotiated order approach: sources of uncertainty and organizational power; formal and informal structure of organizations. New paradigms of administrative organization and the management of change. New Public Management and Public Governance. Administrating in terms of multilevel governance. From the expansion to the crisis of the welfarist bureaucracies, up to a new "coming back" (the newfound role of the public sector facing with pandemic emergency). From legal norms to regulation. Towards a post-bureaucratic Public Administration.

Teaching Program - Unit (b)
The second Unit is devoted to a critical analysis of rational approaches to the study of public administrations, which will be taken into consideration and examined in their evolution from the Weberian bureaucratic idealtype to the most recent perspectives inspired by cognitive sciences, behavioral analysis and "nudging" . At first, it will be considered the developments related, on the one hand, to the analysis of bureaucratic dysfunctions (Merton, Gouldner, Selznick, Lindblom and Crozier), and, on the other hand, to the bounded rationality approach (Simon). Subsequently, it will be examined the approaches originating from cognitive sciences (Kahneman, Gigerenzer, Weick, Thaler), paying particular attention to their application to the design of public policies and the performance management of public administrations.

Unit (b) - Topics
1- Rationality and administrative behavior: from the Weberian bureaucratic idealtype to Simon's paradigm of bounded rationality. Administrative rationality and bureaucratic dysfunctions: unintentional effects and unexpected consequences of bureaucratic behavior (Merton); the relationship between discipline and competence concerning with line and staff; environmental pressures, heterogenesis of ends, role of interests and leadership in public organizations (Selznick); disjointed incrementalism in the construction of public policies (Lindblom).

2- Cognitive sciences, behavioral analysis and new actor models. From bounded rationality to decision-making heuristics. Expert decisions, uncertainty and intuitive decisions. Decision making and sense making. Using principles of anticipation and containment in administrative behavior. Judgment and decision. The nudging approach: gentle pushes and liberal paternalism. Unknowns of decision-making autonomy, unintentional consequences of intentional actions and the principle of harms to others. Behavioral analysis of administrative systems to improve performance in public services: the case of healthcare. Behavioral policies in education. Decision bias and natural disasters: nudge to promote prevention. The nudge for sustainable mobility. Public health, epidemics, emergencies and nudges. The nudgeathon: encouraging behavioral changes at the system level. The behavioral public administration approach for improving performance management systems.

As a corollary to Unit (b), a comparative research recently carried out using both qualitative and quantitative methods on the functioning of the SUAP (Desk for Productive Activities) will be presented and discussed.