Abstract

The author addresses the celebration of the 150th anniversary of Italian national unity in the context of Italian Constitutional history, including that of the Republican Constitution. After verifying the reasons of Italy's weak national identity with regard to the relationship between institutions, politicians (as part of a dynamic governing class) and civil society in three different topical moments of the Italian State and of the National sentiment (1861,1911,1961), the author then goes on to argue that some recent events represent an alarming symptom in terms of the level of national cohesion. He also underlines that what has recently occurred in Italy confirms the lack of political and cultural hegemony on the basis of which national identity could be based.