The constitutional referendum of June 2006 : end of the 'Great Reform' but not of reform itself

This chapter analyses the origins of the constitutional referendum of June 2006, its significance, the campaign, the result and the implications of the result for Italian politics, arguing that while the referendum ended the idea of a 'grande riforma', or 'great reform' (that is, a comprehensive as opposed to piecemeal reform), both the nature of the campaign and the results left the issue of constitutional reform very much alive. In this respect, the referendum may come to be viewed as a turning point analogous to other noteworthy referenda in the history of the Italian Republic