Italian migration policy between perceptions and practices

This introductory article aims to provide a theoretical framework for the special issue and to apply the perspective of the interactive model to the role of domestic and external variables in the analysis of Italian migration policy. The interactive model goes beyond the dyadic approach to identify different forms of interplay between the international and national variables affecting the decision-making process. From this perspective, explanatory analysis of policy decisions is not based on the “dominance” of external or domestic variables, but on their interaction. In this perspective, interaction is mediated by an “intersection point”, defined as an intervening variable, which makes it easier to understand how domestic and external constraints affect policy decisions and preferences.