Referendums trigger both enthusiasm and scepticism among constitutional theorists. The positive case for the referendum emphasises its ability to give the people a consequential voice on salient decisions, its capacity to break political deadlock and enrich the political agenda, its educational civic role, as well its anti-establishment and even radically democratic potential. The negative case, conversely, focuses on the referendum’s divisiveness, propensity to be manipulated by elites, and tendency to produce ill-informed decisions. Between these two poles are various attempts to evaluate the referendum as a complement to rather than replacement for representative institutions, and to stipulate conditions for its proper institutionalisation. The spread of sophisticated disinformation campaigns and the growing interest in deliberative innovations such as mini-publics also raise new questions about referendum design, safeguards, and legitimacy. This chapter takes seriously the democratic case for the use of referendums while revisiting three areas of concern: the ambiguous place of referendums within democratic theory, including its relationship to direct, representative, and deliberative democracy; the complex interplay between referendums as majoritarian tools and minority rights; and the novel opportunities and distinct challenges to informed voter consent in the digital era, not least disinformation and fake news.