Storia

From the beginning, the Centro Einaudi has been one of the main actors of the Italian public debate on policies and reforms.

The urgency of addressing some structural weaknesses of the Italian social, political and economic system has been made more stringent by the on-going financial and economic crisis. Reforms are due in fields as wide and varying as the constitutional framework, the institutional design, the boundaries between public and private choices (that is, the State and the market), the rules that define the role of political and social actors, such as political parties and unions, the role of non-profit actors and organizations.

In recent years, the Centro has also been committed to enhancing the common understanding of what has recently come to be known as “second welfare”. The term refers to “a mix of social protection and social investment programs which are not funded by the state, but provided instead by a wide range of economic and social actors, linked to territories and local communities, but open to trans-local partnerships and collaborations (including the EU)” (Ferrera and Maino, 2011).

There is an overwhelming need of opening up Italian society, promoting both individual chances and collective growth. The liberal tradition has much to say about this agenda, and its historical lessons can be used in order to read contemporary challenges and elaborate policy proposals..

The so-called “liberal order” theoretical approach to international relations is currently put into question by the emergence of new national powers, new international or supranational actors, the privatization of violence, new conflicts for natural resources, whose possible scarcity in a near future is acutely and widely perceived.

The weakening of the national State is accompanied by a bitterly felt loss of influence by traditional international organizations, such as NATO, the UN, the WTO, the EU etc. There is a growing re-nationalization of conflicts. At the same time multiple phenomena – such as population migrations, climate change, borderless communication technologies, the internationalization of financial markets, terrorist threats – call for a coordinated response from States and societies across the world.

The very foundations of national citizenship are put into question: human rights risk being the first casualty in these new declared and undeclared wars. A liberal answer is sought for, which should reconcile individual rights and collective decision-making.