Una nota per la riforma dello Stato: quarta libertŕ e federalismo democratico

Abstract

- As a comment (on "The Forth Freedom", 2007) and anticipation (of "Democratic Federalism", 2009), this article, drawing from those monographies by the Author, carves its hypothesis out of a comparison between the European and the "New World" administrative traditions. Italy was largely imbued by the franco-prussian étatisme of the 18th and 19th centuries; and even developed a peculiar variety of it, based on "assistenzialismo" and the "theft and police" game. Since the end of the 19th century, however, and, more recently, since the second world war, Italy experienced a strong and rising tendency toward "autonomism" and regionalism, which eventually brought to a constitutional reform in 2001. According to it, Local Institutions and the central State should be considered on the same footing: a central proposition that may open the way to the development of "democratic federalism". The article addresses numerous policy issues (on cultural, pedagogic, administrative, outcome, working, benchmarking etc grounds) that rapidly may induce that desirable transformation.Key words: Public Innovation; Freedom; Federalism; Administrative Tradition; Western Autonomy; Local Government. Parole chiave: Innovazione pubblica; Libertŕ; Federalismo; Tradizione amministrativa occidentale; Autonomia; Regionalismo