Tesi forti e questioni aperte in una nuova storia critica della Costituzione repubblicana

Commenting on «Italy and its Constitution» by Raffaele Romanelli (Laterza, Roma-Bari, 2023), the essay summarises the fundamental theses of the book: the historical weaknesses and disunity (territorial, political, religious etc.) of Italy; the only limited success of the Constitution in remedying them; the reasons that have prevented in the past, and still do, from giving the country institutions capable of unitary and effective political leadership. Subsequently, the essay highlights some issues that remain open after reading the book: among other things, whether the critical judgments therein also concern the first part of the Constitution, as well as the second; and whether they are compatible with the largely positive evaluations expressed, on the other hand, on the work of institutions such as the Presidency of the Republic and the Constitutional Court.