Abstract

This contribution analyses the reflection that Villari dedicated to the paths of conservatives and democrats in the process of building the Italian nation. It was an often forgotten role that animated groups, magazines, and cultures inserted in the complex mechanisms of the decision-making process. Minority segments – defeated and downsized by the prevalence of others – of the majorities expressed themselves or found themselves in the prevailing and winning approach. In this context, the dynamics of moderate hegemony, the spaces and possibilities of the opposition, and the balance of a nationalization that encountered the problems and opportunities of the new century, are highlighted.