Video explaining the 8 points of Italian referendum which just failed.

In what is called another instance of anti-establishment politics, Italians rejected a constitutional referendum.

What exactly did they vote on? Honestly, I still don’t really understand, beyond that the proposed changes would shift the balance of power toward Italy’s national government and towards what we in the US would call the executive branch. Here’s a cute cartoon video explaining the 8 main points. (warning: cute cartoon videos are a sign that someone is selling you something. still, they bee cute. check it out.)

Perhaps more importantly, the referendum was viewed as a symbolic popular vote of no confidence in the Italian PM Matteo Renzi, since he insisted on the changes, and promised to resign if the measure failed. Fail it did, and Renzi has now resigned, with the resulting election potentially positioning anti-EU populist parties for further gains. Lacking any knowledge of Italian politics, I can say no more.

bonus video (BBC – contains state sponsored agenda, but still good reporting)