The inner decline of the Christian Democrat Party. Mario Segni and the origins of the referendum movement for electoral system reform

ABSTRACT The loudest and most senior voice to be found in the Christian Democrat Party in the 1980s in support of electoral system reform was that of Mario Segni; a voice so loud as to progressively become a destabilizing factor for the party. In support of a bipolar political system since 1976, Segni tabled a series of electoral reform bills seeking to implement majority rule reform measures both locally and nationally. The rejection of his proposals led him, in 1988, to abandon the parliamentary route and turn to an electoral reform movement that sought to implement change via referenda in June 1991.