An anti-historical “Manifesto” of Political Theory – Gazzetta di Salerno

Rules, principles, expectations of good governance of the local community and of “Politics 2.0”

by the lawyer. Giovanni Maria di Lieto

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1. I would like participation in the electoral competition and commitment to the government of the local community to be dictated by reasons-feelings of civic duty and by an act of love towards one’s community (so-called service administration).
2. I would like the suspicion that administrative action may lead to privileges, interest groups, “positional” incomes and/or clientele that pursue their own private interests in contrast and in conflict with the public interest should never prevail.
3. I would like those who lead the local community to be an example (for moral integrity, competence, respect for the rules of good and correct administration, etc.) and thus for constant “civic” education for the people-collectiveness they represent, thus providing lessons.
4. I would like morality and intellectual honesty to come before “doing” and the ability to “do” (they are prerequisites with respect to “doing”).
5. I would like the local public authorities to take on the social task of helping the humble, the weak, those in difficulty, promoting the necessary initiatives and being alongside the world of work and businesses.
6. I would like the government of the territory to be entrusted to an adequate urban planning instrumentation (general master plan and implementation plans), adopted, approved, effective, which regulates in an organic and “enlightened” manner the building possibilities of the private sector, the public works to be carried out (roads , schools, public car parks, etc.), production facilities serving businesses and work, public green areas, public housing, community development.
7. I would like the people not to be separated from “power” and the elected representatives (otherwise, people “governed by you”), but to be involved in a system and in a logic of participation, discussion, transparency.
8. I would like those who govern not to “promise” (so-called clientelistic politics), but to apply the same rules for all those who find themselves in the same “substantial position” (principle of impartiality of administrative action and equal treatment). It is administered for the community and not for the benefit of the individual or individuals or groups of individuals.
9. I would like the citizen who presents a request to be given a reasoned explanation for the reasons for which the requested measure is denied.
10. I would like that the suspicion should never prevail that administrative action is not impartial and that what is not permitted for others is authorized for some (identity of substantial position).
11. I would like the citizen who presents an application not to have to wait years or even never to receive a response from the municipal offices, when instead the law imposes on the administration the obligation to conclude the procedure with an express provision within thirty days from the submission of the application.
12. I would like the administration’s process and choices regarding the programming of public works and urban planning to be clear and transparent for the community.
13. I would like the community to be made aware of the execution of individual public works (e.g. roads, schools, car parks, etc.) and how public money is spent.
14. I would like it to be clear and transparent with which “merit” criteria are conferred fiduciary roles to professionals external to the administration (legal, technicians, urban planning consultants, etc.). The “parceling” of positions must be strenuously fought, with “merit” being the only possible evaluation criterion.
15. I would like us to go back to thinking about politics, doing politics, getting enthusiastic about politics, getting enthusiastic about an “Idea” of politics and society (whatever it may be).
16. I would like the vote to be a free and opinion-based vote.
17. I would like “silence” (failure to respond) to never be part of administrative action.
18. I would like administrative action to always be good administration (measures expressed within the legal deadline, adequate justification of the measures, participation in the procedure by interested parties, adequate investigation, equal treatment, etc.).
19. I would like the good governance of the local community – through good administration – to be characterized by giving opportunities to the community: for example, identification of areas intended for production settlements, at the service of businesses (whether small or large) and therefore at the service of individual employment opportunities and development.
20. I would like tourism policy to always be aimed at satisfying collective well-being (citizens, the world of work and businesses) and not entrusted to single and sporadic initiatives, completely disconnected from a development plan and a social context, which do not produce “generalized” well-being.
21. I would like the personal “history”, facts and/or concrete behaviors of the individual to justify “belonging” to a political group (whatever the party in which it is placed).
22. I would like every political formation (whatever the alignment in which it is placed) to have a “history” behind it, and to welcome within it only those who are part of that “history” and not those who place themselves there exclusively for reasons of mere “political opportunity”.
23. I would like those who lead the local community to have behind them a “credible” personal, professional “history” (whether small or large, it doesn’t matter), proven by facts and/or behaviors practiced in private, professional or public life.
24. I would like “indifferentism” not to be part of political culture.
25. I would like the Optimism of intelligence to be of all free men.
26. I would like that in politics there is no personal enemy to be demonized, but an adversary to be fought with the strength of Ideas.
27. I would like administrative action to always have a “soul”, to reflect an ideal and thought drive, reformist, propulsive, liberal and reformatory, not demagogic, at the service of the Institution.
28. I would like “committed knowledge” to become a duty of participation, in contrast with the “disengagement” and indifference of “defeatism” (everything is bad, good thing that everything is bad) and in contrast with the rhetoric of discontinuity which has no internally a new idea of ​​society and politics.
29. I would like all the young people of today to know who Sandro Pertini, Pietro Nenni, Bettino Craxi, Enrico Berlinguer, Luciano Lama were (and there would be many other illustrious men of the past not to be forgotten, also in reference to other areas of political thought).
30. I would like the meaning of politics and administration to be clear, the values, the principles to be pursued, that the season of ideas and “commitment” can be renewed in the name of morality, that the “primacy” of politics prevails against indifference of “disengagement”.

Lawyer Giovanni Maria di Lieto

www.studiolegaledilieto.it