Description
Book SynopsisWhat they decided defined the Italian variant of liberalism by transforming it from a doctrine to concrete practices and political behaviors.
Particularly after 1890, liberals increasingly made empiricism the primary justification for policy and dismissed abstract principles as beneath notice.
Trade ReviewAshley does a good job of analyzing changing policies and the accompanying arguments deployed in parliamentary debates and the press. She shows that vigorous debates took place about major policy changes that conflicted with preexisting sets of liberal beliefs. * Journal of Modern History *
Ashley's study is a valuable contribution to our understanding of the complexities of Italian liberalism after 1860. * American Historical Review *
[A]shley provides an excellent study of the interplay between ideology and legislative solutions to real problems during the neglected decades from 1870 to 1900. . . . [S]tudents of European liberalism will profit from it. * Journal of Modern Italian Studies *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Governing Italy Private Enterprise and Public Works Private Interests and the Public Good The State and Social Justice Finding Ways to Reform Law and Order Liberty in Law Liberalism the Italian Way Epilogue: Liberalism and Fascism Bibliography
