Quando l’eccellenza non basta. Lo strumento dei distretti in Campania tra scollamento delle politiche e vitalità dei territori

This article discusses, with a qualitative approach, the impact of regional policies for SMEs in two Industrial Districts of excellence in the Region Campania. After rewieving the different stances in this literature, the article focuses on the overlapping between the Industrial Districts and the debate on Southern Italy’s development: it will be argued that the first has turned out to be the main policy tool to achieve the goals defined by the second. By adopting the typical policy sciences double-faced perspective (top-down and bottom-up) for analysing the chosen case studies, two dimensions are singled out: vitality and disjointedness, crossing local communities and their relation with regional government. The article points out how the mainstream framing of Southern Italy’s lacking development produces a dramatic side-effect in Industrial District’s policy: the vitality of territories and local communities turns out to hinder the same policies, which are intended to support them.