«La democrazia che si organizza». Partigianeria e teoria democratica: note di rilettura del dibattito costituente sul ruolo dei partiti

This article examines the Italian debate on parties in the age of the Constituent Assembly, with the aim of showing that this reflection still offers a valuable contribution to the theoretical rethinking of the relationship between parties and democracy. In particular, the essay synthetically reconstructs the essential points of three approaches: the vision of Lelio Basso, which was crucial for the formulation of Article 49 of the Constitution; the reflection of Costantino Mortati, who, already in the context of the fascist regime, elaborated a new conception about of the relationship between political party and consitutional order; the conception of Antonio Gramsci, which influenced Togliatti’s project of the «new party» after World War II. According to the author, these three visions of the party (and in particular those of Mortati and Gramsci) are able to highlight the constitutive function of the party, which is important for a redefinition of the relationship between parties and democracy.