MARIO D'ADDIO

Gaetano Mosca e l'istituzione della facoltà romana di Scienze Politiche 

N. 166

Summary — The Faculty of Political Science was introduced in the Italian university system in March of 1924 when Giovanni Gentile was Minister of Education.

The institution of the new faculty was the consequence of two developments. First, the growth of Italian political-1egal studies from the second half of the eighteenth century onwards, and the impact of the scientific works of Gaetano Mosca. Second, the theoretical and practical interest that politics had aroused in the Italian culture in those years, with particular reference to the positions taken by Croce and Gentile.

The institution of the Faculty of Political Science was the result of an agreement between Gentile and Salandra. Gentile was attempting to link Fascism to the tradition of the historical Right (the " true liberalism ", according to him); Salandra’s concern was more in line with the constitution of the parliamentary state. The article dwells on the academic and political events of the Faculty between 1924 and 1926, making reference in particular to Mosca’s works and his political views when the approval of the laws conferring full powers to Mussolini marked the end of the " constitutional phase" of fascism.