A constitutional referendum was held in

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

on 4 August 1940.

Dieter Nohlen Dieter Nohlen (born 6 November 1939) is a German academic and political scientist. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences of the University of Heidelberg. An ex ...

(2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume II'', p428 It saw voters approve the new constitution.

Background

In 1939, amid a political stalemate, President José Félix Estigarribia dissolved Congress and assumed "temporary" dictatorial powers. The following year, he issued a new constitution. The key institution was a "strong, but not despotic" president who was vested with sweeping powers to suspend civil liberties and take actions that he deemed necessary for the good of the state. The Senate was abolished and the Chamber of Representatives limited in power. A new, corporatist-inspired Council of State was created to represent interests in business, farmers, bankers, the military, and the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Results

References

1940 constitutional Constitutional referendum Paraguayan constitutional Constitutional referendums Paraguayan constitutional referendum Election and referendum articles with incomplete results {{Paraguay-election-stub