Ricerc@Sapienza

The 19th century was characterized by a process of marketization, strong enough to produce a push for 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. First World War was a sort of stimulus towards such an epilogue, since it paved the way for regulations of the economic order aiming at supporting capitalism with the suppression of social conflict, even if this required the cancellation of democracy. Private law scholars contributed to this result actively or indirectly, by defending the dogmatic tradition, thus preventing attempts to combine social protection and democracy.