Bringing Political Theory Back In. Politica e istituzioni politiche in Stefano Bartolini

The article analyses Stefano Bartolini’s two books The Political and Rule-Making Rules and is subdivided into three parts. The first part highlights the profound civil and professional meaning of bringing the pure theory of politics back to the centre of the debate. The second part illustrates the model of analysis of political action proposed by Bartolini, emphasizing its theoretical salience and value. The third part is dedicated to three critical aspects of his approach: the possibility of separating the search for compliance from the exercise of power, the specific ontic nature of power-conferring rules and, finally, the existence of fields of action not regulated by deontic powers but nevertheless subject to causal powers. The final section highlights the absence of a political theory of the legal norm and proposes a path to build it