Abstract

The article analyzes how the response to the fiscal crisis has affected the relationship between executives and trade unions in Italy with regard to the formulation and implementation of the administrative reform launched by the Renzi led-cabinet. Findings highlight how the disintermediation initially practiced has been brought to a halt by two key contextual factors: the volatility of the party system and the fragmentation of the institutional system, which have slowed down the implementation of the reform. The well established patterns of consensual relationship between executives and trade unions have been finally restored since the late 2016 when the Constitutional court rejected a reform closely connected to public employment regulation such as the modernization of senior civil service.