Technocrats in (the crises of) the state. Political change and state transformations in Italy

Technocracy is one of the main issues in contemporary social sciences scholarship. While many au-thors have written on, among others themes, the rise of technocracy, the concept and definition of technocracy, or the typologies of technocratic governments, the specific question of the relation between technocracy (and technocrats) and state transformations has been less explored. Through the study of the Italian case, we analyze the role of technocrats in three critical junctures (since the early 1980s to the present), and in light of the intertwined process of state transformation and neoliberal-ization. The paper thus provides for a long-term analysis of technocracy and the state, asking when, how, and in what conditions technocrats not only came to hold top-government positions, but also concurred to redefine intra-state institutional relations especially as regards the strengthening of ex-ecutive power

Covid-19 Pandemic and the Fiscal Strategy of the International Monetary Fund: Towards New Directions in the Global Political Economy?

This article seeks to contribute to the analyses of the impact of the Covid-19 on the global political economy. It does so through a qualitative content analysis of the key policy documents published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) since the outbreak of the pandemic crisis. The IMF has been, historically, one of the main designers of international macroeconomic governance. The paper focuses on fiscal policy, which retains a central place in the strategy of the IMF to deal with the pandemic and especially for the post-pandemic recovery phase. The analysis of the documents of the IMF contributes (i) to appreciate the interpretation of the nature of the pandemic crisis through the lenses of a prominent international financial institution, (ii) to explore the policy strategy outlined to deal with the pandemic emergency, (iii) to assess possible changes at the level of policy, and accordingly, future directions in global political economy. Evidence suggests that fiscal stimulus, public investment and planning will likely have a prominent position in the future directions of the IMF policy advice

Technocrats in (the crises of) the state. Political change and state transformations in Italy

Technocracy is one of the main issues in contemporary social sciences scholarship. While many authors have written on, among others themes, the rise of technocracy, the concept and definition of technocracy, or the typologies of technocratic governments, the specific question of the relation between technocracy (and technocrats) and state transformations has been less explored. Through the study of the Italian case, we analyze the role of technocrats in three critical junctures (since the early 1980s to the present), and in light of the intertwined process of state transformation and neoliberalization. The paper thus provides for a long-term analysis of technocracy and the state, asking when, how, and in what conditions technocrats not only came to hold top-government positions, but also concurred to redefine intra-state institutional relations especially as regards the strengthening of executive power

Notulae to the Italian alien vascular flora: 12

In this contribution, new data concerning the distribution of vascular flora alien to Italy are presented. It includes new records, confirmations, exclusions, and status changes for Italy or for Italian administrative regions. Nomenclatural and distribution updates published elsewhere are provided as Suppl. material 1

Crisi organica e trasformazioni del sistema politico in Italia dopo la crisi del 2008: un approccio gramsciano tra storia e scienza politica

Contemporary political systems, in Europe and beyond, are going through relevant processes of change. The rise of populist and euro-sceptic political forces is one of the key factors of such transition, let alone the crisis of traditional political forces, both social-democratic and conservative. While political science has extensively dealt with populism and euro-scepticism, the overall context in which such phenomena arise has been conceptualized much less in systematic terms. This essay aims to fill this gap by resorting to Gramsci’s concept of ‘organic crisis’, the explicatory value of which can be of great relevance to understand contemporary political processes. Through an approach based on history and political science, this essay (i) presents Gramsci’s interpretation of the rise of fascism, (ii) describes the main elements of the category of organic crisis, (iii) offers, in the political science section, an empirical overview of the transformations of the Italian political system since the crisis of 2008. In the conclusions, the article argues if, and to what extent, the present times can be conceived as a moment of organic crisis