Gli strumenti di governo stanno cambiando? Aspetti teorici e problemi empirici

The article concerns the broad range of new strategies and instru-ments of policy making emerged during the last twenty years and called ‘governing by chance’. It prefaces a special issues structured on case studies primarily collected in Italy and focused on different policy sectors. The contribution aims at introducing theoretical frames and empirical dimensions for policy instruments. It especially entails four different scopes. At first, the article argues the role of policy analysis on the ground of policy instruments looking at the ju-ridical and economic point of view. Then, it presents the main definitions and the most relevant classifications found in the litera-ture, especially concerning theories and approaches on how and why people usually select a policy instrument. Finally, the article suggest a comprehensive interpretation of the phenomenon as a case of inco-herent pluralism.