Enrico Mauro

ABSTRACT The last, posthumous book by Giorgio Berti, published in 2008, comprises both new pages (sometimes autobiographical) and pages (sometimes revised) appeared over twenty-five years. It is therefore a book that offers a quite precise idea of Berti’s thought with regard to a considerable part of his main research topics: constitutional interpretation, public responsibility, relations between public and private law, administrative justice, science of administration. Starting from this book, the paper aims to offer some considerations about Berti’s views. It is mainly focused, on the one hand, on some methodological aspects and, on the other hand, on the reversal of the relation between legislation and administration. By that the author means that the fundamental source of legitimation of the administrative action is not political, but social. It follows, among other things, an idea of legitimacy as the fulfilment of social needs, rather than the mere respect of forms, and the belief that a never-ending dialogue between society and administration is needed. But, to be authentic, this dialogue requires the mutual recognition of the interlocutors. KEY WORDS: social needs, social legitimation, dialogue, mutual recognition, reversal.