Abstract

This essay explores the constitutionalisation of socio- economic rights in Italy from the standpoint of the ideological and normative grounding of the Welfare state on the constitutional principle of solidarity, keystone of the democratic order. It does so by cross-examining the Italian constitutional architecture with the prototypical cases of Portugal and Germany, whose constitutional design reflects radically different auspices and concerns, and by mildly contrasting solidarity with the internationally established justification of constitutional social rights, based on a somewhat narrower conception of personal autonomy. In this context, I describe solidarity as a psychosocial foundation for constitutional social rights, embodying a more sophisticated and sociologically accurate view of the person as a relational being.