State, government, society

An important work by Italian Norberto Bobbio returns to bookstores in a revised, expanded edition with a new cover.

State, Government, Society is a book for those who wish to reflect on the crisis of our time without dogmatism, seeking to reorganize the foundations of social coexistence through reform of the State and politics itself. Written in a manner accessible to all readers, it brings together entries published in volumes of the renowned Einaudi Encyclopedia between 1978 and 1981: "Democracy/Dictatorship," "Public/Private," "Civil Society," and "State." It thus establishes what the author called "fragments of a general theory of politics," discussing, among other topics, the different forms of government and state, the idea of civil society as interpreted by the natural law tradition and the current debate, and the criteria for legitimacy of democracy, peace, and universal order. Originally released in 1985 in Italy and in 1986 in Brazil, with a prestigious translation by Marco Aurélio Nogueira, this important title returns to Brazilian bookstores in a revised and expanded edition, based on the 2nd Italian edition, from 1995. It includes an afterword by Celso Lafer, with reflections on the interconnection and current relevance of the ideas of State, government and society in the work of Norberto Bobbio, and on the way in which these themes are coherently inserted into the trajectory of the Italian thinker.