Referendum are direct votes on specific issues (as opposed to elections which are broader and aimed at political parties or individual candidates) and can either be advisory or binding. They are often used as a way to gauge public opinion on contentious issues or as a way to change laws, but they can also be a tool for dictators to disguise oppressive policies as popular measures and gain legitimacy.
While referendums can be a good tool for democracy, they are challenging to manage. They typically involve complex issues, and voters may not be fully informed about the proposals on the ballot. Survey data show that when voters are not well-informed or have strong predispositions toward a certain outcome, they can make poor choices. This is especially true when the referendum question is worded in a way that is biased toward a particular outcome (e.g., the questions in the two Quebec sovereignty referendums were written by a government actively seeking a YES vote).
The lack of information is exacerbated when campaigns are run concurrently with an election and it is difficult to separate out the effects of campaign rhetoric from the effect of the underlying policy. Consequently, in some countries there are requirements for referendums to have a neutral source of information, which can disseminate non-partisan information about the propositions on the ballot to voters. This is done through publishing a voter information guide or other similar publication that provides a summary of each proposal, a statement by the Legislative Analyst on its meaning and consequences, and unedited statements from organizations supporting and opposing the proposal.