Tutela dei diritti sociali ed evoluzione della costituzione economica

The paper deals with the issue of social rights in relation to the transformations of the economic constitution, both in the transition from the liberal state to the welfare state, and in the more recent evolution ofthe economic multilevel government. In particular, the budgetary constraints introduced by the European treaties have produced numerous effects on social policies, not only towards the Member States but also, and above all, towards local authorities that are often called to guarantee, in practice, some important social rights. The paper, therefore, analyses the relationship between the protection of social rights and the sustainability of public finances, above all by referring to the so-called matching principle theories, from which derive some "rewarding" or "penalty" mechanisms that the State carries out so that local authorities adapt social policies to criteria of efficiency and effectiveness of public spending.