The Advantages and Disadvantages of Italian Referendum Tools

Abstract

Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which people decide on policy initiatives directly. Th e article focuses the referendum as the main instrument of direct democracy in Italy and the main purpose of the analysis is to discuss the benefi ts and handicaps of Italian referendum tools. Particularly the abolishment of the quorum for the abrogative referendum that is the main goal for the development of the Italian direct democracy. Th e contribute demonstrate in eleven main reasons why the turnout requirement should be abolished: the vote should be free and decisive, meaning that citizens who participate in a referendum should be aware that their vote will be decisive, whereas those who choose not to go to the polls implicitly delegate their vote and decision to other voters. Th e future is the ongoing people's initiative referendum draft which provides just a very reasonable approval quorum of 25%.

Single issue EU referendums: tying hands, domestic effects and the challenge of consentification

“…Referendums are increasingly common internationally but they are particularly prevalent in current and former EU member states, which account for more than 10% of all referendums held worldwide to date. 1 There is a rich literature on direct democracy in the EU, with a particular focus on referendums related to treaty revision (Closa 2007) or accession (Szcerbiak and Taggart 2013). Much less has been written on single issue referendums despite their growing importance.…”