Facing the pandemic - Italy's functional 'health federalism' and dysfunctional cooperation

This chapter assesses the legal framework put in place in Italy at the national (state), the subnational (regional) and the municipal levels to face the Covid-19 emergency. It seeks to identify how different measures and actors in the management of the pandemic relate to each other, and points out inconsistencies and synergies as well as their impact on Italy's asymmetric regionalism. The different responses by the territories revealed both the potential of the country's asymmetric territorial governance and the weaknesses of its incomplete, quasi-federal system, especially as far as the unclear division of powers and inadequacy of intergovernmental relations (IGR) are concerned.