On the one hand, its outcome may be treated merely as a comprehensive opinion poll on a significant issue, with a verdict that can be translated into law or policy as the government or legislature may see fit. But in practice, there is little to indicate that one referendum leads to another. Referendums are normally decided by close votes. In fact, remarkably few have produced close Yes votes. Recounts seem unknown, and decisive results are the norm.
Referendums are instruments for radical change.
In fact, the verdicts of referendums have tended to be conservative. The public likes referendums. The advocates of referendums insist that the public wants to be consulted. The increased use of referendums after 1978 by many nations and by many states in the United States has, not surprisingly, been accompanied by a similar increase in scholarly studies of the referendum device. Only a handful of works on referendums appeared between 1920 and 1980.