Eminent Domain Power in the United States

This article seeks to retrace the salient steps of the relationship between public authorities and freedom of contract in the experience of the United States of America. 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 this investigation is eminent domain and how it has been used, since the post-World War II period, by public authorities. In addition, an analysis of key case law seeks to shed light on the public interest that the legislature and/or the Administration intended to pursue in individual cases, thereby also highlighting the contradictions underlying the exercise of this power.