Abstract

The doctrine of "Political Direction" is incompatible with the government. Breaking with the notion that the latter derives from the former allows to deal more fruitfully with the issues related to the position and the powers of the Government at times of profound transformations like our own. After having described the theoretical foundations of the doctrine of Political Direction in Italian legal scholarship - for which Political Direction is a binding activity - and after having explored more recent elaborations on the "end of politics" and on "government", the essay aims at a theoretical reconstruction of the activity of government. The essay proposes to abandon the notion of Political Direction and to focus on a notion of government understood as an activity which is not pre-determined but free to pursue all ends, and thus separated from other constitutional functions - especially non-political functions and those "of safeguard". The analysis understands government within the current poliarchic landscape, within the various constrains coming from globalization, European integration and international law more generally and shows how this growing complexity makes it ever more urgent to ensure the freedom of the activity of the Government within a political community.