Frames cognitivi, organizzazione e apprendimento nelle politiche locali per gli immigrati

The paper examines the evolution and characteristics of Italian immigration policies at the local level. Due to the complexity and variety of the policy, an in-depth empirical inquiry into the features of the decision making process and in particular of the «problem-setting stage» is carried out. Three main analytical dimensions are singled out: a) the cognitive frames guiding local decision makers in the selection and interpretation of the issues to be included in the political agenda; b) the organizational arrangements at the basis of public intervention; c) the learning processes taking place on the institutional side. Three Italian middle-sized towns (Prato, Vicenza, Caserta) have been selected, marked by a high salience of the policy issue but by different political traditions and institutional performances. The results of the analysis show that in the whole policy making process the problem setting stage (naming and framing the issue) has a great importance in determining which programs and organizational arrangements will be implemented and what kind of learning process will be developed.