Dal piano al mercato: una prospettiva costituzionale

Transition from Plan to Market: A Constitutional Perspective

Abstract disponibile solo in lingua inglese

The socialist dream of freedom and prosperity failed to become reality because the Communist Party prevented the development of private property and a rule of law. Now, with the end of the Communist Party's monopoly of power, the opportunity exists to move to a normal path of development for both political and economic life. The extent to which that path will be blazed, however, will depend on whether the state can be limited by a new constitution that enshrines the principles of freedom and justice that lie at the heart of a civil society – based on individual sovereignty and the consent of the people, not on state sovereignty and the power of the party. The first step toward social and economic harmony in Russia and other ex-communist countries, therefore, is to end constitutional chaos by replacing arbitrary rules and decrees with a just rule of law or what Friedrich Hayek has called a "constitution of liberty". More fundamentally, making the transition from communism to capitalism will require a new way of thinking. In particular, unless the ex-communist countries are able to nourish an ethos of economic liberty, there is little prospect of depoliticizing economic life and creating a private free market. The creation of a civil society is a process that must evolve naturally as the barriers to market exchange are removed and people are free to choose.