ABSTRACT
Plans for a democratic constitution had been overturned due to tensions generated by the city’s serious economic difficulty. Emigration to England became a chance to rediscover relative stability and an escape from revolutionary violence as well as to undertake a systematic study of history and political constitutions in order to understand the conditions that foster and guarantee the freedom of small states in the modern world. England is also the place where Jean Charles Leonard Sismondi first encountered Adam Smith. Sismondi’s research activity and studies continued in Tuscany, where his family moved shortly afterwards. Even Smith’s interpretation that Sismondi elaborated throughout his work did not receive the appreciation it deserved. But it is interesting to note that despite the theoretical distance that separates him from Sismondi’s analysis, an author such as Menger attributed a certain genius to him, especially in relation to his method of research, which was deeply indebted to that of Adam Smith.
