Public Management Reforms and the Oxymoron of Training

In this chapter we investigate the evolution of training in public administration in a given historical and local context, that is the Italian public administration undergoing a wave of reforms since the early 1990s. We will focus this investigation on three main questions: first, what kind of “change” is taking place both in the wider panorama of Italian public administrations and as far as every single administration is concerned; second, around what kind of training conceptions the current public debate on the role of the training function within public administrations is focused; third, what kind of evolution can we identify when looking at the higher education offer (Masters degrees) to support the changes derived from the various public administration reforms. The paradox we wish to explore refers to institutional actors (legislator, administrations, higher education institutions) that are trapped in what we can call an “optimization of inefficacy” in order to respond to the emerging challenges of a more performing public administration. We find that very little is being put into discussion at institutional level as regards the radically different nature of public administrations, the shortcomings of a functional view of training, and the paradoxes and complexities faced by public managers.