Dizionario di Politica

Authors: Bobbio, Matteucci, Pasquino
Summary: This entry combines two separate entries in Bobbio's dictionary: those for the modern state (Schiera), and the contemporary state (Gozzi). The entry for the modern state summarizes the main historical stages in the transition from the medieval to the modern liberal state. The term denotes a particular political order that developed in Europe beginning in the 13th century until the beginning of the 19th century. Its distinctive feature was the growing centralization of power within a defined territorial unity. The modern state replaced feudal polycentrism with the rationalization of control. To limit conflict and attain its ends, the modern state's structure and actions were based on formal technical procedures. The modern state's focus on formal juridical norms occurred along with the rise of the bourgeoisie.
The entry on the contemporary state distinguishes between the legal and social (or welfare) state and considers the role of the state in capitalism. The legal state, characterized by the existence of civil liberties-political, economic, and personal liberties-exists in conflict with the social state, characterized by social rights-rights of political participation and distribution of wealth. The middle of the 19th century witnessed the beginning of a gradual integration between the state and civil society, an integration that deeply changed the state and its means of legitimation. With the rise of capitalism, the relationship between the state and the economy also changed: state economic policy directly intervenes in the economy. In the contemporary state, a center of administrative-industrial power asserts its authority against the traditional forms of representative politics.