Ricerc@Sapienza

The 18th century was characterized by a process of marketization, strong enough to produce a callfor social protection. In the Unites States, this reaction did not challenge democracy as the foundation of the political order, which was more and more questioned above all in southern Europe with the rise of fascism. This was particularly evident in Italy, where the dictatorship could build upon an authoritarian tradition, which was the reason for many continuities between liberal and fascist Italy.

This paper builds upon the use of «welfare of the state» which can be found in US court decisions and legal literature in the first half of the 20th Century. It tries to demonstrate that it is not an empty formula, since it shows the real reason behind the formation of the Welfare State. The latter was created and developed as a construction aimed at neutralising social conflict and enhancing cooperation between capital and labour with public law measures (social security), as well as with private law measures (labour law).