LA RELATION ENTRE L’ÉTAT ET LA DETTE PUBLIQUE: LES APPROCHES GÉNÉRALES, LES LOGIQUES POLITIQUES, LA CRISE ET LE CAS ITALIEN (’70-’90)

Abstract

This article rethinks the political and institutional causes of the rapid debt growth and its exploitation in the italian “blocked” political system (so-called “First Republic”). Italian State has always lived above its means, with a constant imbalance between income and expenditure and at the same time expanding its distance with respect to society (but the debt was paid by social groups that took advantage of it). This process triggered off a perennial crisis of representation and strengthened the instability of relations between political institutions and society. Therefore, sovereign debt downturns are always crises of institutional legitimization and require a redefinition of the ways in which sovereignty and power are exercised. Thus, the article investigates the impact of the “political use” of the public debt by governments on the relationship between the State and society.