Adattare la propria veste: gli ‘universalismi locali’ del costituzionalismo rivoluzionario

The original vocation to universality represents one of the defining features of the French Revolution. Once the immediate palingenetic enthusiasm had waned, however, revolutionaries soon had to grapple with a concrete and specific historical reality, bounded by time and space. Within this process of obligatory rediscovery of limits – both geographic and cultural-ideological – a crucial moment occurred during the brief but intense experience of the sister republics (1795-1799). Exporting the Revolution meant expanding the boundaries of the Grande Nation beyond the natural limits heralded by the leading revolutionary orators, transcending not only geographical barriers but also cultural and linguistic ones. The political biography of P.-C.-F. Daunou, a French scholar and politician, serves as an ideal lens to grasp the delicate relationship between revolutionary universalism and the specificity of the different contexts with which its representatives had to contend. By exerting influence, in various capacities, in drafting the constitutions of the Roman, Helvetic, and Cisalpine republics, Daunou consistently demonstrated an awareness of the need to tailor the framework – paraphrasing the famous expression of Vincenzo Cuoco – to fit the particular national and local dimensions. A comparative perspective on these different European contexts can thus contribute to the reconstruction of a new type of constitutionalism, hybridized by the individual contexts it encountered, capable of both challenging and revitalizing the influence of boundaries in the revolutionary universe.