Power and Democracy
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RAYMOND BOUDON: PER UNA RISCOPERTA DEL SOGGETTO NELLA DIMENSIONE DEL POLITICO E DEL SOCIALE: SPUNTI DI RIFLESSIONE
No full textThis short contribution aims to concentrate on the main guidelines which inspire the essays of Raymond Boudon recently published in Italian by Salvatore Abbruzzese. We will focus on the “Theory of ordinary rationality” and Boudon’s critical confrontation with sociological theories derived from “naturalism” and “structuralism”, especially with regard to the political implications.This short contribution aims to concentrate on the main guidelines which inspire the essays of Raymond Boudon recently published in Italian by Salvatore Abbruzzese. We will focus on the “Theory of ordinary rationality” and Boudon’s critical confrontation with sociological theories derived from “naturalism” and “structuralism”, especially with regard to the political implications
PARRESIASTI O ESPERTI? RIFLESSIONI SU INTELLETTUALI E POTERE IN DEMOCRAZIA
No full textIn this article, I put forward some initial thoughts with a view to a deeper and wider work. They aim at showing how the problem of ‘telling the truth’ (parrêsia) remains open, especially if considered in connection with the ‘intellectual’, who may be understood both as the ‘parrhesiast’ and the ‘expert’. After showing the problematic aspects inherent to the notion of parrêsia, especially in its relationship with democracy, I will discuss the two above-mentioned figures of the intellectual, in the light of positions expressed by Michel Foucault, Edward Said and Paul Feyerabend. More generally, my point is to let some problematic, and controversial, aspects emerge concerning the contemporary relationships between democracy, power and ‘telling the truth’.In this article, I put forward some initial thoughts with a view to a deeper and wider work. They aim at showing how the problem of ‘telling the truth’ (parrêsia) remains open, especially if considered in connection with the ‘intellectual’, who may be understood both as the ‘parrhesiast’ and the ‘expert’. After showing the problematic aspects inherent to the notion of parrêsia, especially in its relationship with democracy, I will discuss the two above-mentioned figures of the intellectual, in the light of positions expressed by Michel Foucault, Edward Said and Paul Feyerabend. More generally, my point is to let some problematic, and controversial, aspects emerge concerning the contemporary relationships between democracy, power and ‘telling the truth’
HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF PUBLIC AND CULTURAL DIPLOMACY: FROM NATION BRANDING TO CONFLICT RESOLUTION
No full textThe paper aims at providing a comprehensive view on the history and evolution of the practice of Public Diplomacy and Cultural Diplomacy over the last century. Through the analysis of case studies and existing literature, the paper traces the path from the born on Public Diplomacy, its evolution on Cultural Diplomacy and it use in Nation Branding activities. The paper has a special focus on the new concept of Cultural Diplomacy in Post-Confl ict Reconciliation programs, delinando the main characteristics, crucial and problematic aspects and possible future developments.The paper aims at providing a comprehensive view on the history and evolution of the practice of Public Diplomacy and Cultural Diplomacy over the last century. Through the analysis of case studies and existing literature, the paper traces the path from the born on Public Diplomacy, its evolution on Cultural Diplomacy and it use in Nation Branding activities. The paper has a special focus on the new concept of Cultural Diplomacy in Post-Confl ict Reconciliation programs, delinando the main characteristics, crucial and problematic aspects and possible future developments
SEMPLIFICAZIONI PROCEDURALI E NUOVI CENTRALISMI IN MATERIA PAESAGGISTICA E AMBIENTALE
No full textThe analysis of the decision of the Council of State, Studies Office about landscape and building industry matters, leads to some refl ections on the legal framework on landscaping authorisation required under article 146 of Legislative Decree n. 42/2004. In particular, after a short excursus on landscape and its governance from organizational point of view, the article deals with the issue of the superintendent’s advice in this procedure, and what happens in case of his inertia. Legal and juridical interpretations on the matter are listed by the Council of State, and it represents the occasion to meditate upon the application of the simplifying remedy offered by the article 17 of the Administrative Procedure Act (Law n. 241/1990). The circumstance leads to a further critical analysis about the various changes introduced by the Recovery and Resilience Plan, with regards to the establishment of a super-Superintendent for the protection and valorisation policies of the landscape.The analysis of the decision of the Council of State, Studies Office about landscape and building industry matters, leads to some refl ections on the legal framework on landscaping authorisation required under article 146 of Legislative Decree n. 42/2004. In particular, after a short excursus on landscape and its governance from organizational point of view, the article deals with the issue of the superintendent’s advice in this procedure, and what happens in case of his inertia. Legal and juridical interpretations on the matter are listed by the Council of State, and it represents the occasion to meditate upon the application of the simplifying remedy offered by the article 17 of the Administrative Procedure Act (Law n. 241/1990). The circumstance leads to a further critical analysis about the various changes introduced by the Recovery and Resilience Plan, with regards to the establishment of a super-Superintendent for the protection and valorisation policies of the landscape
INDIVIDUALISMO VERSUS COLLETTIVISMO
No full textThis paper aims at showing that methodological Individualism and methodological Collectivism are alternative approaches for the explanation of social phenomena but there are different reasons (ontological, gnoseological, methodological and ethical-political) in favor of the individualistic method. The problem is not the use of collective concepts, but the ontological and epistemological status attributed to them: for individualists they are sets attributable to individual interactions, they constitute the habitat of intersubjective action and are explained as uninteded consequences of human actions; thereby recognizing man’s freedom and responsability. This paper aims at showing that methodological Individualism and methodological Collectivism are alternative approaches for the explanation of social phenomena but there are different reasons (ontological, gnoseological, methodological and ethical-political) in favor of the individualistic method. The problem is not the use of collective concepts, but the ontological and epistemological status attributed to them: for individualists they are sets attributable to individual interactions, they constitute the habitat of intersubjective action and are explained as uninteded consequences of human actions; thereby recognizing man’s freedom and responsability. 
The “narrow corridor” approach: Why nation-building failed in Afghanistan
No full textIn viewing nation-building as a top-down, “state-first” process, the Author argues that US policymakers were following a venerable tradition in political science - if you can establish overwhelming military dominance over a territory and subdue all other sources of power, you can then impose your will. According to the Author, in most places, this theory is only half right, at best; and in Afghanistan, it was dead wrong. As the Author argued, together with James Robinson in their 2019 book, The Narrow Corridor, this approach makes no sense when your starting point is a deeply heterogeneous society organized around local customs and norms, where state institutions have long been absent or impaired. The point stressed by the Author is that the successful centralization of power under state institutions more commonly involves the assent and cooperation of the people subject to it. In this model, the state is not imposed on a society against its wishes; rather, state institutions build legitimacy by securing a modicum of popular support
OLTRE IL ‘MOMENTO’: RIFLESSIONI SU DEMOCRAZIA, POPULISMO E SCIENZA MODERNA
No full textPopulism is surely one of the most investigated political phenomena, also based on the idea that in Western Europe we are currently living in a ‘populist moment’. In this epistemologically oriented article, I consider populism as a case study to show the fallacy of the traditional (modern Western) scientific method, which is still deployed also by political theory and philosophy to approach and investigate allegedly ‘new’ phenomena like populism. In order to argue for my main points, as I introduce them in the first section, I devote the second section to a critical, if brief, discussion of Chantal Mouffe’s For a Left Populism (2018), to then move on to some more general conclusions
Il “buongoverno”, i buoni governi e il “Leviatano incatenato”. : Una riconsiderazione del “bene comune” in chiave plurarchica
No full textThis paper seeks to relate a fundamental notion of political theory, “good government”, to a hypothetical form of governance: the outcome of a competing process of an indefinite number of good governments. This is the “Chained Leviathan” which draws on the tradition of the pre-humanist Italian municipal movement. Divided into four parts, each examines a particular aspect of the possible political reading of Lorenzetti’s well-known cycle: “Municipal life in Siena”, with its institutional framework; “The allegory of good government”, reread in the light of a pre-humanist republican interpretation that sees self-government as the common good itself; “The effects of good government”, showing how “Security”, guided by “Justice”, triggered by the cardinal virtues and protected by the theological virtues, is the basis of freedom and civil prosperity; “The ‘Red Queen’ and the effects of bad government”, underlining how “Tyranny”, triggered by vices and “vainglory”, is the main enemy of the human species and leads to war and generalised misery.This paper seeks to relate a fundamental notion of political theory, “good government”, to a hypothetical form of governance: the outcome of a competing process of an indefinite number of good governments. This is the “Chained Leviathan” which draws on the tradition of the pre-humanist Italian municipal movement. Divided into four parts, each examines a particular aspect of the possible political reading of Lorenzetti’s well-known cycle: “Municipal life in Siena”, with its institutional framework; “The allegory of good government”, reread in the light of a pre-humanist republican interpretation that sees self-government as the common good itself; “The effects of good government”, showing how “Security”, guided by “Justice”, triggered by the cardinal virtues and protected by the theological virtues, is the basis of freedom and civil prosperity; “The ‘Red Queen’ and the effects of bad government”, underlining how “Tyranny”, triggered by vices and “vainglory”, is the main enemy of the human species and leads to war and generalised misery
La crisi dello stato tra economia, tecnologia e soggetti economici “sovrani”
No full textIn the current economic context, every day - to most people, unpredictably - market operators move huge capital by directing their investments in favor of some regional and national economies - investing in markets or public debt securities - often, to the detriment of other countries, in some cases, marking the destiny of governments or even the stability, not only economic but social, of entire nations. Moreover, in recent years, the dominant force of technology has been added to this financial domination, a limit to national sovereignty. In this scenario, the essay wants to highlight the increasingly emerging role of the so-called private sovereign subjects, to whom only the processes of supranational integration can represent an attempt to react to the protection of state sovereignty, democratically legitimized
Il bene comune nella concezione liberale
No full textThe author wonders whether, when faced with the “wounds” of society – injustice, exploitation, violence, cruelty and wars – there is only one face to put in the dock: the liberal conception of society. Or whether the “wounds” of an unjust, cruel and corrupt society spring from a systematic trampling of liberal principles, from a tenacious refusal of the liberal conception of the State. In this regard, the author considers some schools of thought that are profoundly linked: ordoliberalism and the social market economy, through the works of Wilhelm Röpke, Luigi Einaudi and Walter Eucken, and the Austrian school of economics, reporting on the thought of Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich August von Hayek