43 © The Author(s) 2020 S. Cavatorto, A. La Spina, The Politics of Public Administration Reform in Italy, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32288-5_3 CHAPTER 3 Restyling Public Management–Inspired Reforms Sabrina Cavatorto Abstract The chapter examines the agenda of Italian governments in their attempt to adjust to external pressures in the context of the Great Recession and austerity politics. We analyse the “modernization” trajec- tory of the Italian PA as developed by the latest comprehensive adminis- trative reform under the Renzi government (2014–2016). The legislative process, and the narratives put on the agenda by the actors from the policy community, are empirically investigated and discussed as drivers of further, potentially “appropriate”, implementation. Keywords Agenda setting • Decision making • Implementation • Executive-legislature relations • Party politics 3.1 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION BEYOND THE POLITICS OF AUSTERITY Without a doubt, supporters and detractors of the latest Italian public administration (PA) reform agreed on one point: it was not the “reform of the reforms” (among others, Melis 2017). Rather, it was identifed as an “extraordinary maintenance” intervention, as Bernardo Giorgio