Trends, Features and Impacts of Governing‑By‑Order in Italian Cities During COVID‑19

• In Event: Reinventing Security: Evaluating the Impact of New Crime Prevention Policies in Liberal Democracies

Abstract

The COVID‑19 emergency prompted Italian city mayors to deploy “ordinanze sindacali” — extraordinary administrative orders — as a primary instrument of crisis governance. Originally designed to address public hazards, these orders were rapidly repurposed between March 2020 and December 2023 to impose curfews, limit non‑essential movement, regulate the use of public spaces, and enforce social‑distancing measures. This paper offers the first comprehensive, descriptive analysis of the scope, timing, and content of all pandemic‑related administrative orders issued across Italy’s 107 provincial capitals. Drawing on a newly compiled province‑level dataset, we map variation in legal provisions, duration, enforcement mechanisms, and targeted behaviors. We then outline our empirical strategy to assess associations between order adoption (and subsequent revocation) and trends in recorded crime and urban disorder. Beyond measuring short‑term fluctuations, we will examine heterogeneity by city size, baseline disorder intensity, and policy stringency. By focusing on “governing by order” as a novel form of urban security policy enacted under emergency conditions, this study aims to elucidate its operational characteristics, assess its sustainability once emergency decrees lapse, and explore broader implications for democratic accountability, proportionality of state intervention, and the evolving relationship between executive discretion and participatory governance in Italian municipalities.

Authors

• Adriano Cozzolino, University of Campania - L. Vanvitelli

• Diego Giannone, University of Campania - L. Vanvitelli

• Mirko Nazzari, University of Sassari