L'espropriazione negli Stati Uniti

In these pages an attempt is made to retrace the salient steps concerning the relationship between public authorities and freedom of contract in the U.S. experience. In particular, an attempt is made to highlight how, especially from the early 1930s onward, the freedom of contract of private parties began to be restricted by legislative and administrative power for the protection of the public interest. A central element of the present investigation is eminent domain and the ways in which it has been used, since the post-World War II period, by public authorities. In addition, from the analysis of some jurisprudential cases, an attempt will be made to bring out the public interest that from time to time the legislature and/or the Administration in the individual case intend to pursue, also highlighting the contradictions underlying the exercise of this particular power.