Wishing to enable an informed public debate, LPF aims at a fruitful and meaningful conciliation of two approaches: 1) an empirical, descriptive-explanatory approach, 2) a philosophical-normative approach.
The Lab therefore promotes theoretical investigation, case study and policy analyses as well as policy proposals in the 4 research strands outlined below and with particular reference to the following research questions:
Empirical research strands:
1. To what extent are policy-making processes informed by explicit value frameworks?
Do ideas and argumentation - both "evidence-based" and "value-based" - matter in such processes?
2. Which institutional devices have been proven to be capable to foster policy-making patterns and processes grounded on "good reasons", on judicious empirical knowledge and equally judicious normative speculation?
How can one contrast patterns and processes of policy-making grounded primarily on bargaining (or even on clashing) of "brute interests"?
Philisophical-normative research strands:
3. Which value frameworks and paradigms of justice are currently competing against each other over the most important policy issues of democratic agendas?
Which are the most interesting and relevant normative disputes, especially when it comes to the Italian context?
4. What are the frontiers of the normative debate over "conflicts of values" and over the procedures capable of solving or at least mitigating such conflicts in democratic political systems?
