Perspectives on Federalism is a free on-line peer-reviewed journal, promoted by the Centre for Studies on Federalism.

The Author analyses the normative framework and the use of the referendum in Italy, at regional and local level. According to the Author, this level of the analysis could even be used as a preliminary phase for studying people’s ‘consultation’ in general. For this reason, the article contains a brief digression on the development of local referendums in Italy, before and after the beginning of the Republican regime. The article also contains a brief description of three particular types of referendum, i.e. the regional referendum, the referendum for territorial modifications and the local referendum. The conclusion reached is that local and regional referendums are midway between the principle of representative democracy and the needs for direct democracy, and can therefore be a useful means in the study of the functioning of the referendum as a whole. This makes it crucial that the authorities take into account the results of the referendums when taking decisions. It is also concluded that the scenario of different referendums in Italy at local and regional level is very heterogeneous and requires clear rules and more widespread information among the population