Scientific Committees and COVID-19: Mapping Policy Advice in Italy|Comitati scientifici e COVID-19: una mappatura del policy advice in Italia

This article investigates policy advice in the case of the Italian response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing from the extensive literature on evidence-based policymaking and policy advice, we explore the nature of the latter in relation to two main themes: 1) the actors providing advice (who question), and 2) the type of advice provided (what question). The article presents empirical evidence regarding the institutional architecture and functions of scientific committees established at the central level of government and in all Italian regions. In particular, we focus on two dimensions of regional policy advice: the origin of committee members (internal or external to the regional government) and the type of expertise they possess. The evidence indicates a wide variety of configurations in terms of actors, types, and utilization of advice, with members of scientific committees performing functions ranging from management and coordination to the provision of advice in the strict sense.