Abstract

The legal theory of Santi Romano has been deeply investigated by different generations of scholars. Despite of this, some aspects of his seminal works like "L'ordinamento giuridico" and the "Frammenti di un dizionario giuridico" still need to be further ascertained. Moving from this assumption, the article promotes a critical reading of Romano's thought and emphasizes the phenomenological dimension of his reflections on law and power and his commitment to a legal theory that is strongly committed to effectiveness as a guiding perspective for the analysis of law and institutions. In this perspective, legal pluralism does not entirely obscure monism, as well as institutionalism does not exclude per se a vital interest for normativism.