Alle origini di una cultura politica moderna: costituzionalismo e pensiero politico in Pierre-Claude-François Daunou (1761-1840)

The reconstruction of the intellectual biography of Pierre-Claude-François Daunou (1761-1840), a French intellectual and politician, constitutes the cornerstone of the present research. The analysis of his complex and evolving reflections in the political and constitutional realm will not be limited to the personal case but aims to shed light on the developments of principles and political practices from the late 18th century to the first half of the 19th century. At the heart of this research lies a dual objective, approached with a bifocal perspective: on one hand, the restoration of an intellectual profile of one of the most celebrated public figures of his time, surprisingly overlooked by subsequent studies; on the other hand, the identification of original lines underlying a modern political culture, a result of the collective contribution of various political actors and national scenarios, not confined to the French revolutionary epicenter. The diverse stages of the political and intellectual biography of the individual will thus insinuate themselves, through an internal perspective, into mechanisms and dynamics otherwise invisible to the scholar. Through a particular and privileged lens, general relevance issues will be problematized, leading to trace a particular evolutionary line that, not without ruptures and discontinuities, connects the various French constitutional experiments with the universe of sister republics and, ultimately, with the infamous constitution of 1799. The research will conclude by looking into the era of the Restoration, where, once again, thanks to Daunou's figure, multiple connections will emerge between a political reflection matured through the revolutionary decade at a European level and the new experiences and practices of revolution situated in an Atlantic-type scenario.