Le sfide alla democrazia

The contribution of sociologist Marilena Macaluso, after emphasising the social and not merely institutional dimension of the democratic process, seeks ways to operationalise the processes of democratisation or de-democratisation and seems to suggest that if we do not want to consider democracy 'an empty shell' or simply “a mask for oligarchy”, we must connect it to the ability or inability of the rule of law to function democratically. In other words, we must include in our analysis “the normalisation of social inequalities”, the progressive and increasingly widespread social acceptance of gaps in the perception and availability of fundamental human freedoms.