Abstract

The work questions itself on the developments in Italian constitutional and administrative law scholarship in recent decades, convinced that a relationship of mutual integration has been witnessed, where nonetheless the difficulty of precisely framing it remains. For the author the problem with this confrontation is represented by the singling out of the conditions so that it can be useful. The writing holds that such conditions belong first and foremost to three general orders: method, content and objectives. If they are shared, they identify a programme for truly common research. The general condition of method in the first place regards the identity profile and concerns the singling out of the core of importance that distinguishes administrative law from the other administrative sciences. The content profile pertains to the identification of some themes with respect to which the need for an integrated contribution of administrative and constitutional law specialists is greater. But a programme must have an objective. In the author's view, this objective can be none other than one anchored to a basic need common to all branches of public law, namely the redefinition of a correct relationship between institutions and the individual citizen where what involved is not proposing a 'minimal' State, much less a 'weak' State. Rather, it means rebuilding public law starting from the person.