June 2, 1946: The Day of the Choice. The Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies launches a videopodcast recounting the birth of the Italian Republic
t is one of those dates that changed the course of our country’s history. A historic moment that allowed Italian citizens to regain control of their destiny after more than twenty years of Fascist rule and the absence of free elections. To celebrate the eightieth anniversary of the institutional referendum between Monarchy and Republic, as well as the first truly universal suffrage elections (those for the Constituent Assembly), Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna has produced the videopodcast “June 2, 1946: The Day of the Choice”, a collective narrative reconstructing the key events that led to the birth of the Italian Republic.
The episode features Emanuele Rossi, Full Professor of Constitutional Law, together with students of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna. Their contributions create a narrative that combines historical references, legal analysis, and little-known facts about the political and social context surrounding the referendum, all presented in an accessible and engaging style.
The videopodcast is a special episode of “Stroncate scientifiche”, the podcast produced by the Sant’Anna School and funded through the PNRR project “Merita – The Network for Talent”. The podcast addresses fake news through scientific methods, critical thinking, and irony, and is available on major streaming platforms. Audiences can choose between two formats: listening to the traditional podcast or watching the episode in vodcast format, enriched with archival images, graphics, and newspaper articles from the archives of La Nazione that enhance the storytelling.
The episode is available at the following link:
Spotify episode – “June 2, 1946: The Day of the Choice”
“With this videopodcast, we wanted to explore in depth a fundamental event in the life of our country, highlighting aspects that are often overlooked in public narratives but that testify both to the difficulty and the significance of this historic transition,” said Professor Emanuele Rossi.
Structure of the episode and topics covered
The videopodcast “June 2, 1946: The Day of the Choice” explores several crucial themes related to the historical context of the June 2 referendum: the legacy of Fascism and the Second World War, with its deep wounds still unhealed; the essential contribution of anti-Fascist parties to the democratic transition; the political and institutional framework of the referendum; the 1946 local elections; the decision to entrust the choice between Monarchy and Republic to a referendum and the provisional constitutional arrangements; the role and electoral law of the Constituent Assembly; the election campaign; women’s voting rights; the results of the referendum, the King’s departure, and the inauguration of the Constituent Assembly.
The participants in the videopodcast
Alongside Professor Emanuele Rossi, the videopodcast also features contributions from Lorenzo De Carlo, a PhD student at the Sant’Anna School, and from Lorenzo Bracciali, Giulia Pomi, Edoardo Purini, and Chiara Tocco, students from the School’s Law program.
The episode was produced in collaboration with the Communication and Digital Media Office of Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna.
