Abstract

In the last few decades, public institutions have encountered a deep and complex crisis that endangers their functions and their ability to pursue goals and mobilize resources. Consequently, public opinion raises questions about preservation of institutions that fail to meet the needs of citizens, showing the disappearance of that social consensus that legitimizes the existence of the same institutions. Therefore, understanding institutional capacity to develop projects and actions in critical or negative conditions (i.e. inadequate economic resources, fast normative change, alteration of local governance, and so on) and to maintain and/or enhance their role in society could become crucial. To think about these capacities is important to adopt the appropriate methodological perspective for the debate concerning reforms related to today’s public institutions. This article contributes to this direction trying to analyze the institutional sustainability of great Italian municipalities (>200.000 people), and to take over the link between institutional sustainability and the dynamics of political representation observed through electoral behaviour.