The Multi-Layered Governance of Migration in Italy

This book explores how and why policy and political actors have responded to the recent European 'refugee crisis', and the effects of these responses across different governmental levels. Whereas previous studies have tended to focus on discourses and policies implemented by governments, far less attention has been paid to how and why these discourses and policies emerge. Drawing on evidence from Italy - a country that has been centrally affected by the 'crisis' - this book examines knowledge-formation and decision-making processes and actors' interactions related to asylum-seeking migration at sub-national, national and EU level. It shows that policymakers at all levels of government were influenced by perceptions of public attitudes towards immigration, which were however often disconnected from objective evidence. As such, the book argues that migration policymaking is driven not so much by public opinion, as much as it is by perceptions of public opinion. The book will appeal to all those interested in multi-level governance, migration studies, public policy, and European politics.

Andrea Pettrachin is Researcher at the University of Turin, and Collegio Carlo Alberto, Italy.