Cohort: POLS 42

Topic of the thesis: Public–Private Healthcare Governance in Southern Europe: A Cross-Case Comparison of Italy, Spain  and Portugal

Abstract: This project aims to analyze the evolution of healthcare governance in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, focusing on the regulation of the public–private mix and the changing balance between public and private provision. The interest is not only to describe these developments but also to explain them, with particular attention to why three countries sharing similar institutional legacies and structural pressures have followed increasingly different trajectories, especially after the global financial crisis. The study  adopts a qualitative approach to examine the politics and policy of healthcare reforms between 1980 and  2025 in these three countries. In doing so, it aims to identify the mechanisms that drive policy change and, more specifically, to explain why countries belonging to the same welfare regime may experience either institutional inertia or departures from established policy paths. The working hypothesis is that divergent outcomes are best explained by the interaction between inherited institutional arrangements and the strategic behavior of actor coalitions, rather than by structural pressures alone. The study draws on qualitative sources, including legislation, policy documents, parliamentary archives, media sources,  and semi-structured interviews with institutional and political actors.

Research interests: Social policy; Comparative welfare states; Healthcare policy

Graduated from: BA at the University of Trento; MA at the University of Milan

Degrees obtained: BA in International Studies, University of Trento; MA in Economics and Political Science (EPS), University of Milan

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