B000169 - HISTORY OF POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS

Italian

A course on the origins and development of constitutional governments since early modern age to nowadays. Lectures will be based on the evaluation of political documents in a seminar context. The main focus will be on so called “separation of powers” theory: how it was born; how it was shaped in its classical form in XVIII-XIX centuries; how it was re-interpreted in the mass democracy era and which is its present meaning.

For the students which regularly attend the class:
1. Notes from the lessons and other materials available at Luca Mannori Faculty web site;
2. M. DUVERGER, Le costituzioni della Francia, ESI, 1984 (available in the library also in French edition)
For the students which cannot regularly attend the class:
1. Four chapters from the following book, according to choice: Storia delle istituzioni politiche. Dall'antico regime all'era globale, a cura di M.Meriggi, L.Tedoldi, Carocci, 2015 .
2. One of these two handbooks according to choice:
a. R.MARTUCCI, Storia costituzionale italiana dallo Statuto albertino alla Repubblica (1848-2001), Carocci, 2008
b. C.GHISALBERTI, Storia costituzionale italiana 1849-1948, Laterza, 1978
3. M. DUVERGER, Le costituzioni della Francia, ESI, 1984.

Basic knowledge of Public Italian Law

The course is principally based on the reading and the comment of constitutional documents available on teacher web site. In the same site are also available slides and other references useful for the preparation of the exam

The exam is in oral form

1st. part. The political culture of middle age did not own the concept of ‘separation of powers’. Public power was conceived as a whole function, whose purpose was declaration and defence of the law (“iurisdictio”). The first part of the course will explain why and how this political concept was overtaken in favour of current sight and will present the main forms of government generated by the new theory in UK, France and US.

2nd part. During the XIXth century the concept of separation of powers becomes the main postulate of the modern occidental constitutionalism, but its meaning varies according to the different constitutional traditions. After offering a general view on the different models of power separation in the liberal era, we will approach the study of the new significance the concept assumes in the constitutionalism of the XXth century, from Weimar constitution to nowadays.