The Italian public machine poses many difficulties for those who want to invest in Italy. Therefore, according to the new prime minister Matteo Renzi, it is necessary to streamline bureaucracy and "face the relationship with the public administration in a different way".
Senior PA executives and public managers may be fired and will have fixed-term assignments. "Without prejudice to acquired rights, there cannot be the possibility of a manager who remains for an indefinite period and who makes good and bad times", commented Renzi.
Since the 1820s, with the emergence of majority electoral systems, the spoils system - a political practice born in the United States of America between 1865 and XNUMX, according to which the senior managers of the public administration depend on the change of government - has which has also come into use in Italy: the political bodies can therefore choose the top figures such as general secretaries, heads of departments, municipal secretaries.
The spoils system, regulated by law 15 July 2002 n. 145 and by the subsequent law of 24 November 2006 n. 286 (converting the decree law of 3 October 2006 n. 262), provides for the automatic termination of high and medium management positions in the public administration after 90 days of trust in the new executive (ie the appointment of a new government). The institute's rationale is the need for trust and harmony between administration and politics as a necessary element for the good performance of the public administration.
The spoils system is often contrasted with the merit system (literally: system of merit) on the basis of which the ownership of public offices is assigned following an objective assessment of the ability to perform the related functions, without taking into account the political affiliation of the candidates . A typical example through which the merit system is implemented is a public competition.
In sentence 233/2006, the Constitutional Court confirmed the validity of the spoils system by stating that the need for the good performance of the public administration takes priority over the principle of impartiality which in theory would exclude "partial" administrative top management towards the executive; however, the Court also affirmed that this system cannot infringe the space reserved for the independence of the public administration (generally, the one most closely linked to the activity of the same, with the policy only responsible for providing the objectives and guidelines for achieving them) thus limiting the spoils system only to top positions and excluding middle management. As regards the precise identification of the administrative top management affected by the spoils system, the court did not provide precise criteria capable of identifying them precisely; one can only guess that the positions are in closest contact with the political bodies and that, like the latter, they are more involved in the process of formation of the objectives than in the more strictly technical management of the administrative activity. The Constitutional Court has also decreed the illegitimacy of the spoils system of the directors general of the local health authorities.
The managers, in the intentions of the Renzi government, will not be deprived of their responsibilities: fiscal, criminal and civil. A further one will be added, that of failure to achieve objectives, a responsibility that translates the so-called accountability into Italian. To make this possible, transparency and clarity is needed in the activities of the PA: "every cent spent by the public administration must be visible online" and available for consultation by everyone. This does not only mean the Freedom of Information Act, but "a revolution in the relationship between citizens and public administration such that the citizen can verify every gesture that his representative makes day after day".
Many reforms for one purpose: to make the relationship with the PA as simple as possible and to eliminate that sense of "anguish that often grips citizens who have to deal with tax bills and administrative sanctions".
