ABSTRACT
This chapter investigates the public funding system for performing arts in Italy, by analysing the links between its declared aims, the procedures through which it operates and final decisions concerning the allocation of resources. It summarizes the main findings of extensive research on public funding for the performing arts in Italy, previously published in Italian. The chapter looks at the internal consistency between the aims of the funding policy and the formal procedures put in place to evaluate and select grant beneficiaries. It focuses on the process of administering the law, which reveals both the organizational routines and the informal procedures that play a role in the decision-making process leading to the allocation of resources. Then it discusses the consistency between the aims of the policy and actual impacts. The chapter provides more general remarks on the rationale of the assessment processes.
