CARLO LOTTIERI
Ordine policentrico e diritti individuali.
Considerazioni sulla teoria neofederale di Daniel J.Elazar
N. 197
Summary — The paper investigates the relationship between the classical liberal tradition and Daniel J. Elazar’s neo-federalism. In the opinion of this important political scientist of 20th century, it is federalism that makes possible the protection of individual rights: without the constitutional framework of a pluralist federalism, democracy becomes centralized and can be a road to dictatorship.
But the article is also an attempt to underline the limits of Elazar’s theory and the inconsistency of his opposition between federal freedom and natural freedom. Moreover, it was not clear to Elazar how calling any form of political organization a "state" is a great obstacle to understanding the phenomenon of federalism and its polycentric order.