Local government under stress: How a small village community has reacted to the COVID-19 emergency

Abstract

Most studies on the management of COVID-19 have analyzed the issue from the perspective of the central government, while only a small portion have focused on local institutions, especially in countries such as Italy that are characterized by a multilevel governance system. Our study focuses on Peccioli, which is a municipality of under 5,000 inhabitants in Tuscany. We will investigate the citizens’ perceptions of the various actions that were put in place by the local government of Peccioli to manage the emergency. We aim to understand the ranking of the priorities that municipalities are required to accomplish for their citizens. A survey of a representative sample of the local population has found that citizens’ evaluations of municipal initiatives are overall positive, but that culture (defined here as cultural initiatives and events) and funding (and culture before funding) are considered to be more important than services. In particular, cultural events played an important role in the citizens’ perceptions because they strengthened community resilience during the emergency. This result can inform public administrators, who in times of crisis tend to make the first investment cuts in culture. This study underscores the importance of understanding how to effectively reach all citizens.