Abstract

During the last decade Italy experienced important reforms of its regional system, which changed in many ways the role and functions of regional councils. One of the most interesting innovations for the Italian context has been the institution of legislative research services which are responsible for providing legislators with policy relevant information. The aim of this article is to describe the introduction of policy analysis and policy evaluation tools in the Italian regional councils. In particular, we discuss their main characteristics in terms of structures involved, organization, requested skills, research methods and their differences with respect to traditional legal