ABSTRACT
The democratic order in Italy has been preserved and domestic terrorism defeated, or at least reduced to marginal significance. Italy though, is not unique in having overcome a substantial terrorist threat. The Italian Constitution of 1947 is a document that asserts the principles of political and personal freedom commonly identified with liberal democracy. The subsequent reluctance of the judicial authorities and the government to enforce the law during the 1950s and 60s became a matter of controversy. The Criminal Code not only contains standard provisions covering such crimes as murder, kidnapping, and robbery, all pertinent to terrorist behavior, but many of its articles embody the Fascist-based notion of the political crime. The legislative measures Parliament adopted during the first half of the 1970s to cope with the threat do not make specific reference to terrorism. Parliamentary debate over the need to establish the new crimes, conducted in the wake of the Negri arrest, was particularly heated.
