In risposta alle diffuse pressioni per una maggiore accountability, un numero crescente di enti locali italiani sta avviando pratiche volontarie di rendicontazione sociale. Il lavoro presenta i risultati di un’analisi del contenuto condotta sui bilanci sociali pubblicati dagli enti locali italiani e riferiti all’esercizio finanziario 2002. Esso mette in luce come gli enti analizzati non adottino un unico modello di rendicontazione, ma cerchino di valorizzare i dati e le conoscenze a disposizione per comunicare un’immagine coerente con la propria strategia, dando vita ad una varietà di documenti. Gli utenti adottano approcci differenti, accomunati dal tentativo di superare i limiti dei tradizionali strumenti di rendicontazione e rendere l’ente locale responsabile delle proprie azioni nei confronti dei propri interlocutori. L’impiego dei bilanci sociali per un effettivo coinvolgimento dei portatori di interesse e come strumento di accountability democratica pone ancora nuove sfide.
In Italy an increasing number of Local Governments (LGs) is voluntarily engaging in the preparation of Social Reporting (SR) as a seeming response to an increasing call for democratic accountability. The paper is aimed at gaining a better understanding of the phenomenon of SR in Italian LGs by investigating the content of the SR accounting for the year 2002. The empirical analysis shows that a uniform pattern of SR is not in place yet and LGs are rather experimenting with such documents, giving origin to a variety of approaches. More specifically, the content and approach to social reporting reflects the strategies and attitudes of the LGs toward their environment and stakeholders. Although SRs cannot be fully considered as democratic accountability tools, they represent a remarkable improvement of external reporting and accountability practices.
In Italy an increasing number of Local Governments (LGs) is voluntarily engaging in the preparation of Social Reporting (SR) as a seeming response to an increasing call for democratic accountability. The paper is aimed at gaining a better understanding of the phenomenon of SR in Italian LGs by investigating the content of the SR accounting for the year 2002. The empirical analysis shows that a uniform pattern of SR is not in place yet and LGs are rather experimenting with such documents, giving origin to a variety of approaches. More specifically, the content and approach to social reporting reflects the strategies and attitudes of the LGs toward their environment and stakeholders. Although SRs cannot be fully considered as democratic accountability tools, they represent a remarkable improvement of external reporting and accountability practices.
