Does Policy Capacity Truly Matter for Governmental Effectiveness? A Conjunctural Analysis of the Quality of Governance in Italian Regions

This article explores the role of policy capacity in influencing (regional) government effectiveness. Drawing on various research streams (public administration, public policy, economics, and political science), we assess whether and under what conditions policy capacity affects public policy outcomes. Our proposal is that government effectiveness (operationalized by a novel composite index) results from a combination of factors: socioeconomic context, social capital, political strength, organizational policy capacity, and individual policy analytical capacity, inspired by the Policy Capacity Framework. Based on this theoretical assumption, we conducted a configurational analysis using the fuzzy-set QCA method to examine the drivers of government effectiveness in 13 Italian regions. The findings highlight the significant conjunctural role that (mainly organizational, but also individual) policy capacity can play in influencing (regional) government effectiveness.