La nascita del federalismo municipalista

Reform of Part V of its constitution in 2001 saw the entry of Italy into a federalist era. Is it possible to imagine the start of this process of change as credible without there having been any modification to the territorial distribution of local powers? Naturally no, and so federalism is at risk of self destruction as a result of the new tensions between different areas. The federal plan, in fact, has been constructed on a municipal arrangement which today still remains outmoded, and it is in that basic contradiction that the main difficulties lie today. The paper shows that we have entered an age of federalism without having resolved the problems that arose with the unification of the country. We therefore risk finding ourselves again in an ever smaller and more isolated world, organised around a multiplicity of powers of veto that will transform the country into a place where there is a perpetual negotiation of public decisions. To introduce greater efficiency and democracy we would in fact have to reorganise local authorities, starting with for example, a reduction of the approximately six thousand municipalities that have less than five thousand inhabitants