RODRIGO VIOLANTE SPAGNOL

The thesis is written on the premise that politics is the object of a historical science built on the analysis of the development of forms of government. Such science describes constitutions considering their role in the establishment of justice and civil liberty, elements that enable the progression of commerce, arts and the sciences, which in turn are effects that complexify political institutions in a reiterated process. Subsequently, this science acquires a prescriptive role, analysing and distributing power in different spheres, in such a way that the distinct interests that compose a political body should concur to the fulfilment of public interest notwithstanding the characters of the citizens. Initially, this happens by the scrutiny of particular political regimes, without the aim of hierarchizing forms of government. But the final product of this science would be the constitution closest to perfection made possible by historically observed developments. This product is suggested in the essay Idea of a perfect commonwealth (1754).