La maggior parte degli approcci comuni allo studio di federalismo e di diritti di minoranze hanno contribuito poco a trovare risposte costituzionali alla sfida sempre più pertinente di accomodare il pluralismo societario e territoriale. In particolare, questo continua ad essere valido se come standard vengono combinati sia l’affronto di richieste di riconoscimento che la creazione di un sistema di governance efficace.  Su tale base, il gruppo di ricerca associa studiosi che esplorano il ruolo di costituzioni nel gestire del pluralismo societario e territoriale. Il gruppo esamina temi come quelli del federalismo, dei diritti di minoranze, delle politiche linguistiche, dei diritti umani e strumenti di partecipazione democratica con uno scopo triplice: in primo luogo di rivedere la struttura concettuale della governance di diversità; in secondo luogo di esaminare come il pluralismo societario viene regolato in diversi settori politici; in terzo luogo di collegare attraverso continenti e tradizioni academiche i differenti approcci alla governance di diversità.

The group brings together scholars exploring the role of constitutions in managing societal and territorial pluralism and in attempting to set the frame for dealing with diversity in a holistic manner. By so doing, the research group studies federal solutions, autonomy arrangements, minority rights, language policies, human rights rules, democratic/political pluralism and participatory instruments. The constitutional framework in this area has to be looked at in broader terms, ie in a comparative analysis of domestic (national and subnational) constitutions as well as considering international and supranational obligations.
Most of the consolidated approaches to federal studies and minority rights fail to provide viable constitutional answers to the growing claims for accommodating societal and territorial pluralism. Nearly all federal or quasi-federal arrangements developed over the past three decades aim at granting broader self-government to minority groups within states. Such approach, however, does not prove sound enough to address the demands for recognition, together with an effective system of governance. Contemporary constitutionalism requires the inclusion of an ever more numerous variety of interests and stakeholders in decision-making processes and this challenges law-makers and civil servants when it comes to the governance and management of societal pluralism. To ensure good governance and a high public responsiveness to policies, more attention has to be paid not only to how institutions regulate pluralism, but also to the practical impact regulatory frameworks have on the management of societal complexity in various policy fields.
Against this background, the research group studies how constitutionalism affects the governance of societal complexity and to what extent the management of societal pluralism requires both a reconsideration of the conceptual framework of diversity governance, and a rethinking of its traditionally connected empirical research agendas. Building on the studies on legal pluralism, multilevel democracy, transnational constitutional law, the fragmentation of authority as well as the multiplication of (bottom-up) claims, the aim of this research group is threefold. First, it contributes to revising the conceptual framework of diversity governance. Second, it elaborates (comparative constitutional) studies on how societal pluralism is regulated in diverse policy fields. Third, it has practical impact on the circulation of diversity governance approaches to specific policies across academic traditions, and continents.