{"title":"Public Communication and the Barriers to Participation: The Case of Rome from an Open Government Perspective","authors":"E. D. Blasio, Cecilia Colasanti, Donatella Selva","doi":"10.1285/I20356609V13I2P1152","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1285/I20356609V13I2P1152","url":null,"abstract":"The City of Rome inaugurated its open government programmes in 2016, but its heuristic relevance has been understudied. By analysing this peculiar case, this article proposes a reflection on the challenges of implementing open government in local settings, focusing on three barriers to civic participation: distrust towards public institutions, lack of digital skills and unawareness of participatory projects. Public policies and communication materials diffused by the administration of Rome are examined in order to highlight the tactics and tools used by the administration to overcome those barriers and promote participatory projects through on- and offline communication outlets. Particular refe-rence is made to three case studies: the Forum of Innovation, participatory budgeting and the Punti Roma Facile (distri-buted internet points). The results show that the City of Rome has implemented some promising participatory strategies, but still lacks a clear communication strategy. This article ends by elucidating some aspects of the participatory measures (institutionalisation of the process and impact on policy-making, salience of the specific policy in the broader strategic framework, and involvement of civil society coalitions), and how they are embedded in different perspectives on the role played by public communication in open government programmes.","PeriodicalId":45168,"journal":{"name":"Partecipazione e Conflitto","volume":"13 1","pages":"1152-1167"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2020-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45425695","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Public Sector Crises: Realizations from Covid-19 for Crisis Communication","authors":"W. Coombs","doi":"10.1285/I20356609V13I2P990","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1285/I20356609V13I2P990","url":null,"abstract":"This article reflects upon the communicative demands COVID-19 created for public sector crisis managers. Those demands include anxiety, empathy, efficacy, fatigue, reach, and threat. The conclusion reviews the realizations COVID-19 has created for those tasked with managing public health crises.","PeriodicalId":45168,"journal":{"name":"Partecipazione e Conflitto","volume":"13 1","pages":"990-1001"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2020-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1285/I20356609V13I2P990","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49400517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Religious Movements to the Rescue in Transit? Exploring the Role of the Church of Pentecost in the Lives of Ghanaian Immigrants in Istanbul","authors":"Senyo Dotsey","doi":"10.1285/I20356609V13I2P1208","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1285/I20356609V13I2P1208","url":null,"abstract":"This exploratory article uses qualitative data to critically document how social networks developed around the Church of Pentecost (CoP) Istanbul, and how the ensuing social capital accumulation has somewhat played significant roles in the lives of Ghanaian immigrants in a transit environment, Istanbul (Turkey). The paper argues that with immigrants caught within webs of unreceptive and strict legal environments, socio-economic, moral, psychological, identity, and spiritual struggles in the host country, these Churches, such as the CoP Istanbul, have somewhat become crucial resource pools that immigrants, be they irregular, regular or so-called 'transit migrants' and asylum-seekers, draw on to provide solutions to these quotidian existential problems. The findings documented herein enrich the African Diaspora and religious movements' literature, illuminating how these movements shape immigrants' lives in transit destinations like Turkey.","PeriodicalId":45168,"journal":{"name":"Partecipazione e Conflitto","volume":"13 1","pages":"1208-1225"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2020-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43746179","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Nadia Urbinati (2029) Me the people. How Populism Transforms Democracy. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press.","authors":"Francesco Maria Scanni","doi":"10.1285/I20356609V13I2P1226","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1285/I20356609V13I2P1226","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45168,"journal":{"name":"Partecipazione e Conflitto","volume":"13 1","pages":"1226-1231"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2020-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47530357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Re-Connecting Scholars' Voices: An historical Review of Public Communication in Italy and New Challenges in the Open Government Framework","authors":"Gea Ducci, L. Materassi, Laura Solito","doi":"10.1285/I20356609V13I2P1062","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1285/I20356609V13I2P1062","url":null,"abstract":"In an international theoretical framework relating to the challenges of digitalization on public sector communication, the article focuses on the open government process to present a historical review of the public sector communication as it has developed in Italy in the past thirty years. Definitions, reforms and the regulatory framework, structures and competences, different communication approaches and goals are collected here thanks to those \"scholars' voices\" which have fuelled the scientific debate on communication in public administrations since the 1990s. A diachronic approach is necessary in order to investigate the dynamic nature of the relationship between citizens and public sector organizations in a wider changing context and to further grasp the influence of digital technologies, with their impact on communication strategies and paradigms. The focus of the contribution is on the challenges that communication is facing in the new digital environment and in the contemporary scenario of open government. As the authors underline, the use of digital media is often seen as functional both to promoting a culture of transparency, openness and accessibility and to overcoming the traditional limits of the bureaucratic organizations, but there are some opportunities and risks to consider. So, the final part of the article offers a reflection on the consequences of digitalization. It introduces some key aspects of the contemporary debate on public sector communication in general and specifically in Italy, offering a critical discussion on those topics – new skills and professional profiles, training programmes, internal management, multichannel strategies, etc. - that are revealing their complexity in the new relational and organizational context.","PeriodicalId":45168,"journal":{"name":"Partecipazione e Conflitto","volume":"13 1","pages":"1062-1084"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2020-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43233258","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Re-Connecting Voices. The (New) Strategic Role of Public Sector Communication After the Covid-19 crisis","authors":"A. Lovari, Lucia D’Ambrosi, Shannon A. Bowen","doi":"10.1285/I20356609V13I2P970","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1285/I20356609V13I2P970","url":null,"abstract":"This article aims to investigate the evolution of public sector communication before and after the Covid-19 crisis that has strongly impacted governmental institutions, public policy, contemporary society, and media ecologies. After a review of the main characteristics of public sector communication, the article proposes an interpretative and dynamic model to better understand the new challenges for public institutions. The model introduces ethics as the new, primary driver for public sector communication to surround all decisions, pointing out the need for transparent, authentic participation and dialogue to build trust. Focusing on two dimensions (trust/distrust, openness/closedness), the authors investigate the main trajectories of change for public sector communication, conceiving the three pillars of open government (transparency, participation and collaboration) as strategic values for improving the quality and efficacy of communication. In this time of uncertainty, the new trajectories of communication should fully embrace an ethical approach in order to become resilient, able to respond to citizens' needs and expectations, and to maintain responsible relationships with media, varied strategic publics, and a rapidly changing global community.","PeriodicalId":45168,"journal":{"name":"Partecipazione e Conflitto","volume":"13 1","pages":"970-989"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2020-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1285/I20356609V13I2P970","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43253267","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Policing the 'Anti-Social' Tourist. Mass Tourism and 'Disorderly Behaviors' in Venice, Amsterdam and Barcelona.","authors":"Alexander Araya López","doi":"10.1285/I20356609V13I2P1190","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1285/I20356609V13I2P1190","url":null,"abstract":"In the last years, several cities in Europe and around the world have witnessed the emergence of social movements critical of mass tourism, underlining a diversity of 'externalities' associated to this highly-complex global industry. The so-defined 'anti-social' (i.e. unruly, offensive, inappropriate) behavior of tourists has been highlighted by both social movements and the local and global media among these negative effects of tourism, and local authorities have responded with many campaigns and strategies to regulate the impact of visitors in the lives of locals. By focusing on three European city-cases (namely Amsterdam, Venice and Barcelona), this paper discusses the current efforts to regulate 'disruptive behavior', while examining the limits of these initiatives and the challenges that these approaches create to the daily management of public spaces.","PeriodicalId":45168,"journal":{"name":"Partecipazione e Conflitto","volume":"13 1","pages":"1190-1207"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2020-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49379229","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Intelligences in Strategic Issues Management: Challenging the Mutually Beneficial Relationships Paradigm","authors":"Shannon A. Bowen","doi":"10.1285/I20356609V13I2P1002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1285/I20356609V13I2P1002","url":null,"abstract":"Mutually beneficial relationships (MBRs), a concept used to conceptualize public relations processes and outcomes, has been featured relatively uncritically for many years. This normative concept became an elixir for collective problem solving and shared decision making. Careful consideration of highly contested issues reveals evidence that within-group MBRs can prevent overarching solutions, decisions between issue groups, and can constitute stalemating or hegemonic tribalism. Strategic issues management (SIM) provides decision-making intelligences by which conflict between businesses and other members of society can be understood and resolved. Issue advocates' adversarial strategies can frustrate any society's ability to solve problems and make meaningful decisions, even when parties share a common motivating value. Stalemated public policy interpretations create sores that cannot heal; complex problems cannot be solved. Thus, MBRs are not the promised panacea or even a normative approach. Within-group MBRs can prevent between-group MBRs. An ethically engaged and rhetorically astute SIM process offers a constructive alternative to understanding complex, contested issues and offering informed problem resolution. Relationships do not have to be mutually beneficial to be included within the realm of public relations. In fact, relationships can span a continuum while still warranting and requiring the attentions, expertise, and activities of public relations. As long as ethical standards are maintained, those relationships can exist in whatever form is most intelligent for the handling of issues. In that view, public relations truly joins strategic management.","PeriodicalId":45168,"journal":{"name":"Partecipazione e Conflitto","volume":"13 1","pages":"1002-1021"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2020-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42234276","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"(Smart) City and the (Open) Data. A Critical Approach to a Platform-driven Urban Citizenship","authors":"Alberto Marinelli, S. Parisi","doi":"10.1285/I20356609V13I2P1168","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1285/I20356609V13I2P1168","url":null,"abstract":"This paper represents a first attempt to reconstruct a theoretical map of the relation between technology (digital media) and citizenship. We start from the reconstruction of the role of citizens in the smart city paradigm and then face the challenge that the so-called Big Techs move to the ideal of an engaged \"smart community\" by promoting an individual relationship between users/citizens and digital platforms. Finally, we present two emerging participation paradigms concerning Data Activism and Cooperativism, which seem to represent relevant fields for experiencing (and observing) the agency of a future, networked citizenship.","PeriodicalId":45168,"journal":{"name":"Partecipazione e Conflitto","volume":"13 1","pages":"1168-1179"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2020-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1285/I20356609V13I2P1168","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48762019","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Civic Collaboration and Urban Commons. Citizen's Voices on a Public Engagement Experience in an Italian City","authors":"R. Bartoletti, Franca Faccioli","doi":"10.1285/I20356609V13I2P1132","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1285/I20356609V13I2P1132","url":null,"abstract":"The article focuses on \"public engagement\" and recent modifications in citizen participation through a case study regarding the \"collaborative governance\" of urban commons in the city of Bologna (Italy). Civic collaboration is an experimental partnership which is being implemented between public administrations and citizens in order to develop, treat and reuse commons with a view to improving the quality of life in cities. The goal of the project is to understand whether, and how, civic collaboration is also transforming citizen participation in local public policies. This article presents the results of research which was performed by interviewing citizens who are involved in the collaborative governance of urban commons. This contribution aims to connect the literature regarding \"open government\" and its impact on participation with the consolidated debate regarding the role of culture in the conception of citizenship and civic engagement and, as a consequence, in the effectiveness of collaborative governance. Particular attention was paid to citizen engagement, and to the role performed by both public and private platforms and digital media.","PeriodicalId":45168,"journal":{"name":"Partecipazione e Conflitto","volume":"13 1","pages":"1132-1151"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2020-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1285/I20356609V13I2P1132","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42105031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}