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Part of the Politics series |
Direct democracy |
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A referendum, in the Italian legal system is a request directed to the whole electorate to express their view on a determined question. It is the main instrument of direct democracy in Italy.[1]
The Constitution of Italy only provides for four types of legally binding referendums:[2]
Despite that the constitutional right to hold a popular referendum has existed since adoption of the Constitution in 1948, the necessary legislation detailing the bureaucratic procedures needed to hold them was not adopted until the early 1970s. As a consequence of this, Italy's first popular referendum was not held until 1974, 27 years after the constitution was first approved.