Evaluating politicians and governments often means looking at performance indicators, policy outputs and outcomes. These measures are important, but do they tell us the whole story? Political commitment, intentions and the willingness to pursue specific objectives may not be fully captured by results alone. At the same time, declarations of intent are not enough to demonstrate genuine political will: commitment needs to be examined through concrete actions, their feasibility and continuity, and the involvement of relevant stakeholders.

This presentation will introduce a conceptual framework and an assessment model developed through research co-authored with Prof. Alessandro Spano at the University of Cagliari, Italy, to evaluate political will in Italian regional governments. Drawing on a review of the literature and a discussion with the board of directors of a trade association, the model identifies observable actions through which political will can be assessed, including legislative initiatives, non-legislative initiatives, and inspection and advisory activities. These actions are examined using criteria such as relevance, feasibility, timing, continuity, stage of advancement and stakeholder involvement.

The presentation will explore how this approach can complement traditional government evaluation by providing a more structured way to examine political commitment alongside performance indicators and policy outcomes. Particular attention is given to the role of stakeholder participation in assessing whether political actions respond to relevant needs and involve the groups affected by public decisions.

Please note that this webinar will be presented in English only.

Sonia Cocco

Sonia Cocco is a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer in Public Management and Business Administration at the University of Cagliari, Italy. Her research interests include information use in the public sector, evidence-based policymaking, governments evaluation, organizational change and digital transformation in public administration.

She holds a Ph.D. in Business and Economics from the University of Cagliari, where her doctoral research examined how information is used in the public sector and how its effective use can be enhanced. Her research on information use by regional politicians has been published in the international peer-reviewed journals Meditari Accountancy Research, Public Money & Management and the International Journal of Public Sector Management.

She has presented her work at several international conferences, including the International Research Society for Public Management Conference, the International Institute of Administrative Sciences–Euromena Conference and the Bielefeld International Conference on Applied Business. She has also contributed to specialist research workshops, including the European Group for Public Administration XII Spring Workshop.

In addition to her research activities, she serves on the Editorial Management Board of International Public Management Review and reviews manuscripts for several international academic journals.