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"This chapter reviews research on political communication in referendums that have become increasingly popular in democracies worldwide. The authors define key characteristics of referendums, touch upon participation in and popular support for referendums, and highlight the differences between them and presidential or parliamentary elections for political actors, the media, and citizens. Furthermore, they discuss findings regarding media effects on issue salience, issue understanding, turnout, and voting behavior. The authors argue that the potential for communication and campaign effects on citizens is generally larger in a referendum campaign than in other electoral contests. Finally, the authors call for more research into referendums that will likely become even more important in the future." (publisher's description)

Precisazioni concettualiGli strumenti referendari rappresentano un tentativo di conciliare i limiti posti dalle grandi dimensioni del corpo elettorale – che rendono impossibili vere e proprie assemblee popolari del tipoLandsgemeinde– e l'esigenza di una partecipazione diretta dei cittadini ai processi decisionali. Di questi strumenti analizzerò in questa sede i più «democratici», quelli cioè che sono il prodotto di spinte «dal basso», frutto di richieste promosse da un certo numero di elettori al di fuori di qualsiasi controllo da parte del potere politico. Non terrò conto, pertanto, né dei referendum obbligatori, imposti dalla costituzione (in generale nei casi in cui si tratta di modificarla o di consentire un parziale abbandono di sovranità), né di quelli organizzati a scopi tattici o di legittimazione, né,a fortiori, dei plebisciti a carattere personale.

The referendum of July 2004 in Bolivia over hydrocarbon policies in Bolivia disclosed many of the national problems that threatened social peace. This paper analyses the attitudes of different labor unions, political parties, & civic communities within the context of the referendum & how the stances of political & social actors in the referendum produced internal divisions. It also examines how these groups' different points of view on President Mesa's hydrocarbon policy contributed to the call for a referendum. The work demonstrates that for a short period of time the referendum served to legitimize Carlos Mesa's presidency but in a long run defeated of it own presidency. Tables, References. Adapted from the source document.

On October 10th, 2007, Ontarians overwhelmingly rejected a proposed change to their electoral system in a province-wide referendum on a new mixed-member proportional (MMP) system. Many commentators and academics blamed this failure of MMP on the quality of Election Ontario's public education campaign, which was comprised of advertisements, an information hotline, a website, and public outreach activities. Elections Ontario's public outreach element contained a unique program of grassroots education through local liaison officers. Elections Ontario chose to hire one Referendum Resource Officer (RRO) for each electoral district, who was tasked with providing referendum information through presentations and public meetings in their communities.

This paper examines the feedback of one-third of these RROs collected through telephone and email interviews. Many of these RROs felt that the referendum education program fell short of its aim to provide local education on the referendum question and made suggestions as to the reasons behind the shortcomings of Elections Ontario's referendum education campaign. They commented that their work was not supported by appropriate timelines, budgets and materials. In addition, many were displeased with the restrictions placed on RROs in efforts of keep the Elections Ontario campaign neutral. This case study supports previous referendum education and voting research that demonstrates that referendum education campaigns should not only provide timely and accessible information, but also encourage debate in order to provide citizens with the competence needed to make their "big decision."