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'A State matter. Politics and high bureaucracy' on 28 May 

At the meeting "A State matter. Politics and high bureaucracy", organised by Telos A&S with Fondazione De Gasperi on 28 May at 18, hosted by Istituto Treccani, we will talk about what serving the State means. It means making the administrative apparatus work, guaranteeing the correctness of procedures and protecting the interest of the citizen. All too often, however, the commis de l’État, that is, the high-ranking bureaucracy, are associated with something else. They are considered the handbrake of efficiency and development. Is this really the case? And then, what is the relationship between high-ranking civil servants and politics? Who, in the Ministries, holds in their hands the power and the responsibility for decisions?

Mariella Palazzolo will introduce the theme and then pass the floor to Vito Cozzoli, Councilor Head of Service at the Chamber of Deputies, who, with the moderation of Flavia Trupia -PerLaRE, Association for Rhetoric, will talk with Lorenzo Malagola, Secretary General of the De Gasperi Foundation, and Marco Sonsini, partner at Telos A&S.

A moment of reflection on a little-debated subject: the role of the high bureaucracy.

Today, the discretionary power to articulate the content of much legislation, and no longer just to decide on individual cases, has passed from parliaments to executives. Does the real knowledge and possibility of evaluating the effects of policies, the technical competence necessary to propose the practical alternatives, ensure that the high bureaucracy plays a preponderant role in the decisional process’ phases? Is the current institutional system, and not only the Italian one, a bureaucratic system in the literal sense, and therefore characterised by the government of officials?

One thing is certain: without the elite, there is no government.