Abstract

To subject the 'value of the Constitution' to analysis in Italian legal culture on the terrain of the administration means trying to identify, at the cost of a selection even partial and rigorous, the fundamental line that can be found in that culture, without overlooking the complexities and variations present in it, but also without covering its entire extensive dimension. Naturally, it would not be appropriate to rely solely on the part of administrative reflection that refers directly to the Constitution. By nature and because of a deep-rooted tradition of administrative law, most of the reflection does not take the Constitution as its starting point but rather legislative rule-making and the exigencies imposed on observers by reality in motion - a motion that is not underpinned, or at least not always underpinned, by reference to the Constitution. Therefore, to concern oneself with the value of the Constitution on the terrain of administration means at once verifying the value of the Constitution for the administration and recognising what value the reading that is given to the administration contributes to conferring on the Constitution.