Negli studi sull’innovazione della p.a. e nella retorica politica e manageriale la governance è un termine molto utilizzato, ma non sempre in virtù della sua capacità di mediare idee univoche e condivise. La vaghezza concettuale e la flessibilità interpretativa del termine ne spiegano l’uso crescente, accompagnato però da una perdita di precisione del suo significato. Nel complesso sembra essersi determinato un divario tra la necessità di riferirsi alla governance come riferimento comune nella ricerca e nei processi di innovazione della p.a. e la constatazione che il concetto è lungi dall’essere univoco e privo di ambiguità. Tutto ciò sembra suggerire l’utilità di evidenziare, attraverso una review della letteratura, i tratti comuni dei diversi approcci e definizioni di public governance, identificare i principali punti di contatto con la teoria economico-aziendale ed indagare l’impatto sugli aspetti operativi delle pp.aa.
In the past two decades of p.a. reform, the “governance” term has gained wide currency both in the academic debate and in the political-managerial rhetoric, often at the expense of the “government” concept or as a fightback from NPM. The key of success arises from its conceptual vagueness and interpretative flexibility. However, these strengths may be part of its weaknesses, since a growing use of the term is perceived to go hand-to-hand with a loss of conceptual accuracy. The easily- identifiable gap between the need to use “governance” as a reference term in public sector mana- gement and research, and the recognition of its ambiguity, suggests the utility of a literature review, aimed at comparing different public governance research approaches. Furthermore, emerging issues in governance research are highlighted, as well as important implications on p.a. management.
In the past two decades of p.a. reform, the “governance” term has gained wide currency both in the academic debate and in the political-managerial rhetoric, often at the expense of the “government” concept or as a fightback from NPM. The key of success arises from its conceptual vagueness and interpretative flexibility. However, these strengths may be part of its weaknesses, since a growing use of the term is perceived to go hand-to-hand with a loss of conceptual accuracy. The easily- identifiable gap between the need to use “governance” as a reference term in public sector mana- gement and research, and the recognition of its ambiguity, suggests the utility of a literature review, aimed at comparing different public governance research approaches. Furthermore, emerging issues in governance research are highlighted, as well as important implications on p.a. management.
