The only clear note in the continuous talk of federalism - even since its potentially innovative (or subversive) values have been drastically reduced - is the widespread disaffection for the Italian state, in the way it has developed and in the highly centralistic structure that historically characterizes it. The clangor of anti-unitarian swords has inevitably became louder as the celebrations of the 150th anniversary drew nearer and the political crisis deepened. Hence the choice of opening this special issue with a discussion focussed on the concept of federalism, whose contradictory vagueness - as Simonetta Soldani notes in her introduction - best illustrates the current tensions and lacerations: an issue that Piero Bevilacqua, Giuseppe Berta and Mariuccia Salvati discuss with different sensibilities and approaches in accepting the challenge posed by the concept.
Keywords: Federalismo, decentramento, Stato nazionale, riforma dello Stato