Abstract

During the post-war turmoil, what hindered part of the Italian liberal political class in reading the novelty represented in the political system by the emergence of fascist violence? What prevented them from grasping the extent to which the advance of fascism drove a decisive wedge into the crisis of the liberal state? This essay presents an itinerary of reading through the parliamentary questions on domestic politics, interwoven with points of juridical and political reflection on the crisis of the State, in order to reconstruct the attitude with which the liberal political class tackled the issues posed by social conflict and political violence – thus revealing a conception of the State and of government that made the rise of fascism possible