Acerbo Law

E57025

The Acerbo Law was a 1923 Italian electoral law introduced under Benito Mussolini that guaranteed a large parliamentary majority to the leading party, helping consolidate Fascist dictatorship.


Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf Italian law
electoral law
appliedInElection Italian general election, 1924
associatedWithEvent consolidation of Fascist regime in Italy
beneficiary Benito Mussolini
National Fascist Party
country Kingdom of Italy
criticizedBy liberal politicians in Italy
criticizedFor distorting proportional representation
facilitating authoritarian rule
datePassed 1923-11-18
effectOnSystem changed electoral system for the Chamber of Deputies
electoralSystemType party-list proportional representation with majority premium
field political history of Italy
government Mussolini government
headOfGovernmentAtEnactment Benito Mussolini
historicalPeriod interwar period
historicalSignificance key step in the establishment of Mussolini's dictatorship
ideologicalOrientation Fascist
introducedBy Benito Mussolini
languageOfText Italian
legalDomain electoral law
legalForm ordinary statute
legislature Italian Chamber of Deputies
Italian Senate
mainProvision the list with the largest number of votes received two-thirds of the seats in the Chamber of Deputies if it obtained at least 25% of the national vote
monarchAtEnactment Victor Emmanuel III
namedAfter Giacomo Acerbo
politicalContext Kingdom of Italy (Liberal era)
rise of Italian Fascism
purpose to facilitate the consolidation of Fascist dictatorship in Italy
to guarantee a large parliamentary majority to the leading party or coalition
to strengthen the position of Benito Mussolini's government
region Italy
remainingSeatsAllocation one-third of seats distributed proportionally among other lists
repealedInContextOf fall of Fascism in Italy
replacedSystem pure proportional representation
result ensured Fascist control of the Chamber of Deputies after the 1924 election
undermined liberal democratic institutions in Italy
weakened parliamentary opposition
seatPremium two-thirds of Chamber of Deputies seats to the leading list
sponsor Giacomo Acerbo
status repealed
supportedBy National Fascist Party deputies
monarchist and conservative elements in parliament
typeOfMajorityPremium national majority bonus
voteThreshold 25 percent of valid national votes
yearEnacted 1923

Referenced by (1)
Subject (surface form when different) Predicate
March on Rome
followedBy

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