The Reins of Intra-Party Power in The Italian Political Parties (1990-2011)

The article investigates the power relationships within Italian political parties. Since Roberto Michels, the question of intra-party power relationships has been at the centre of political science and political sociology. Most of the contemporary research interprets the intra-party disequilibrium between leadership and followers as a question of internal democracy. Rather than concentrating on this aspect, our perspective emphasises the skewed distribution of power between different hierarchical levels of the political party. Focusing upon the formal rules concerning organizational structure, personnel selection procedures and party finance, the contribution analyses the level of “verticalization” in the intra-party distribution of power between the national and the sub-national level, with respect to the main Italian parties from 1994 to 2012

Resilient and Transition Strategies for the Post-pandemic City: A Multi-criteria Analytical Approach for the Case of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria

European cities face the challenges of planning their transition to achieve sustainable and resilient urbanization. However, operationalizing suitable urban strategies toward sustainability appears difficult, especially in the light of rising inequalities and disparities within and among EU cities and regions. Urban regeneration strategies appear to be a possible leveraging mechanism for cities’ green and digital transition in the mutated policy context for recovery after the pandemic. In this context, the paper explores how intermediate cities effectively design and implement urban development strategies toward resilience and sustainability in response to the current pressing challenges. The Metropolitan City of Reggio is examined by assessing the city’s ability to address context vulnerabilities in current urban development strategies through a multi-criteria analytical approach. Results point out priority factors that affect the case under investigation and should be prioritized in de-fining future development strategies and the potential role of urban regeneration in the city's future development strategies towards resilience sustainability

On the eve of ecological transition? The failed institutionalization of sustainable development in Italy (1992–2020)

The National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) adopted in 2021 by the Italian government is explicitly committed to push the country towards a 'radical ecological transition' and sustainable development. However, the institutionalization of the paradigm of sustainable development, in Italy, is a story of a failure. The aim of this contribution is to investigate the hows and whys that may help explaining the failed institutionalization of the paradigm. By combining an ideational approach with a political system perspective, our empirical investigation analyses the initiatives promoted by Italian national governments, by covering a time span of over 20 years (1992-2020). Thick historical description and process tracing are used to provide an in-depth reconstruction of the process. Our results show that adverse combinations of factors of a cognitive, institutional and political nature have hindered the adoption of substantive policy outcomes, thus leading the institutionalization of the paradigm along a disjointed path

Attentional processes during P3-based Brain Computer Interface task in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis patients

To be available for a wide range of end-users a brain-computer interface (BCI) should be flexible and adaptable to end-users’ cognitive strengths and weaknesses. People’s cognitive abilities change according to the disease they are affected by, and people suffering from the same disease could have different cognitive capacities. We aimed at investigating how the amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) disease, and two different cognitive attentional aspects [1] influenced the usage of a P3-based BC

Development and implementation of guided, self-directed learning modules in graduate medical education

This study sought to investigate the use of interactive iBook learning modules as a guided, self-directed learning resource for trainees within an obstetrics and gynecology residency program. The implementation of an iBook learning module as a supplement to lecture was studied in comparison to teaching sessions with lecture only

Programmazione dei Fondi Strutturali Europei e Sistemi di Valutazione

Nel corso degli ultimi anni, i concetti di “programmazione” e “valutazione” delle politiche pubbliche hanno ricevuto una particolare attenzione tanto da parte della comunità scientifica che delle istituzioni. Attraverso di essi, infatti, è andata progressivamente diffondendosi una nuova e più articolata visione dei processi di policy making, imperniata sul valore strategico di una programmazione quanto più possibile integrata e coerente e sulla necessità di condurre una verifica costante degli interventi, lungo l’intero ciclo vitale delle singole politiche. La presente indagine conoscitiva, condotta dall’IRPET per conto della VII Commissione Vigilanza del Consiglio Regionale della Toscana, si propone di affrontare alcune di queste tematiche specifiche, sia attraverso un’analisi dei livelli di integrazione esistenti tra i differenti strumenti di programmazione operanti sul territorio, sia mediante una ricognizione dei sistemi di valutazione impiegati per la verifica degli interventi finanziati attraverso i Fondi Strutturali