Title: It is still there: The different roles played by the Policy State and the trajectories of governance

Speakers: Giliberto Capano, Professor of Political Science and Public Policy, University of Bologna

Date: Thursday, May 2, 2024

Time: 17:15-18:45

Place: CASE 127

Abstract: Every state is a Policy State by virtue of the central role that it plays in the policy-making process. Thus, focusing on the different political roles played by the Policy State it is possible to shed light on the complexity of governance dynamics and their diachronic trajectories. To this end, a new synthetic classification of state roles and supporting policy instruments will be presented and discussed. Specifically, it is possible to highlight eight functional roles of the state: Moderator, Initiator, Guarantor, Watchdog, Gatekeeper, Facilitator, Enabler and Observer. Each of these roles is associated with a specific type or combination of policy instruments. The usefulness of this classification will be demonstrated through various empirical examples.  It will be shown not only that the actual modes of governance are inherently hybrid, but also that the central role of the political state is complex and multifaceted. It is changing over time, but it remains at the center of policy making.

Bio: Giliberto Capano is Professor of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Bologna. He has been the Editor  of the Rivista Italiana di Politiche Pubbliche (Italian Journal of Public Policy) and he is co-editor of Policy & Society. He has been member of the Executive Committee of the International Political Science Association (2009-2014) and of the Executive Committee of the  European Consortium of Political Research (2018-2024). He has been the co-founder of the International Public Policy Association. He specializes in public administration, public policy analysis, and comparative higher education. His research focuses on governance dynamics and performance in higher education and education, policy design and policy change, policy instruments’ impact and performance, the social role of political science, the policy impact of Covid-19, and leadership as an embedded function of policy making. He has (co-)authored eleven monographical studies and (co-)edited seventeen  books,  while his work in English has been published in several books and in journals such as: Journal of Legislative Studies, Higher Education, Higher Education Policy, Higher Education Quarterly, Public Administration, Southern European Society and Politics, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, Journal of European Public Policy, Comparative Education Review, Policy and Society, Contemporary Italian Politics, European Political Science, Policy Sciences, Public Policy and Administration; Journal of Public Policy; Regulation & Governance; European Policy Analysis, Policy & Politics; Political Studies Review, Journal of Asian Public Policy, Review of Policy Research; International Journal of Administrative Sciences. His latest  books are: A modern Guide to Public Policy (coedited with M. Howlett, Edward Elgar,  2020); Convergence and Diversity in the Governance of Higher Education (co-edited with D. Jarvis, Cambridge University Press, 2020); Trajectories of Governance How States Shaped Policy Sectors in the Neoliberal Age (coauthored with A.Zito, J.Rayner, and F. Toth, Palgrave 2022); The Fate of Political Scientists in Europe (with L. Verzichelli, Palgrave, 2023)