This book assesses Italian budgetary policy over the last thirty years. Covering more than three decades of political change and national transformation, it considers the institutional and external factors that have shaped long-term budgetary changes. The book analyses the levels of expenditure allocation across varying budget categories, and compares the budget bill and budget law in order to shed new light on the specific dynamics that have influenced budgetary decision-making processes. Overall, the book provides important conclusions on the role of the budget as a governmental policy instrument, the consequences of multilevel governance over national budgetary policy, and the impact of national and international crises on budgetary changes. With Italy being one of the most important parliamentary democracies in Europe and a key actor within the European Union, these conclusions have important repercussions for other European parliamentary democracies. The book will appeal to scholars and students of European public policy, public administration and economic governance.
Author(s): Alice Cavalieri
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 276
City: Cham
Names of Italian Political Parties
Acknowledgement
Contents
Abbreviations
List of Figures
List of Tables
Chapter 1: Introduction
References
Chapter 2: Policy-Making and Budget Changes
2.1 Introduction
2.2 The Importance of Studying Public Budgeting
2.3 The Evolution of Studies on Budget Changes
2.4 The Shape of Budget Changes: Hyper-incrementalism and Frictions
2.5 The Decision-Making Process: The Government Versus the Parliament
2.6 Discussion
References
Chapter 3: Budgeting Policy Within the Union: Italy in the European Context
3.1 Introduction
3.2 A Brief History of Italian National Accounts
3.3 The (Stretched) Pillars of the Italian Budgetary Process
3.4 Italy and the Development of the European Economic Governance
3.5 Discussion
References
Chapter 4: Approaching an Explanation of Longitudinal Change in the Italian Budget
4.1 Introduction
4.2 A Comprehensive Analysis of Budgetary Policy: A Threefold Policy Perspective
4.3 Tools to Study the Italian Budget Policy: Methodological Innovations
4.4 Centripetal, Centrifugal, Countervailing Forces?
4.5 Discussion
References
Chapter 5: Incremental Changes or Punctuations?
5.1 Introduction
5.2 The Distribution of Budget Adjustments: Hypotheses
General Punctuation Hypothesis
Fragmentation Hypothesis
Polarisation Hypothesis
Centralisation Hypothesis
External Constraint Hypothesis
Crisis Hypothesis
5.3 Assessing the Size of Yearly Changes
5.4 Explaining the Magnitude and Direction of Yearly Changes
5.5 Discussion
References
Chapter 6: To Change or Not to Change: Governments’ Spending Intentions
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Governments’ Intentions and Spending Reallocation: Hypotheses
Polarisation Hypothesis
Centralisation Hypothesis
Crisis Hypothesis
Newly Appointed Governments Hypothesis
6.3 Explaining the Transformativeness of the Budget Bill
6.4 Discussion
References
Chapter 7: The Impact of the Decision-Making Process
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Parliament Strength and Spending Reallocation: Hypotheses
Fragmentation Hypothesis
Centralisation Hypothesis
External Constraint Hypothesis
Crisis Hypothesis
Electoral Cycle Hypothesis
7.3 Explaining the Transformativeness of the Budget Law
7.4 Discussion
References
Chapter 8: Conclusion
8.1 A Mammoth Doesn’t Change Its Size, but Changes Its Shape
8.2 Budget, Institutions and Frictions
8.3 Policy-makers, Cognitive Limits and Crises
8.4 Pitfalls on the Path Towards Collective Decision-Making
8.5 Responsiveness, Responsibility and Change
8.6 Ideas and Change
References
Appendix A
1.1 Logistic Regression
References
Appendix B
1.1 Assessment of Major Changes in the Budget Bill and in the Budget Law
1.1.1 Budget Law
1.1.1.1 Budget Bill
1.2 Confirmation of the Leptokurtic Distribution of Annual Budgetary Changes in Italy
References
Index
