Emergency as a style of government,
beyond the Civil Protection’s scandals
Emergency powers are generally required in extraordinary cases, such
as when public safety is seriously threatened. However, in Italy their
exercise is increasingly frequent, since the definition of «emergency» has
been stretched to cover «big» and «mega» events. This article’s aim is to
shed light over the «normal» functioning of the Italian Civil Protection
Department, beyond the scandals which surrounded it since February
2010. After retracing the extension of the emergency’s definition, peculiar
ways of governing by dispensation and outsourcing are explored. It is
argued that such a style of government, generally justified in terms of
efficiency, allows the introduction, the legitimation and the perpetration
of opacity in governing ordinary situations.