Government-sponsored referendums on issues of national importance are occurring with greater frequency in countries with only sporadicexperience with direct democracy. Comprehensive studies exist which examine the origins, conduct and regulation ofreferendums, as well as their consequences for the political system. There have also been a large number of studiesaddressing voting behaviour during particular campaigns, and a great deal of research on the far more elaborate andsystematized processes in those countries, notably the United States and Switzerland, with recognized initiativemechanisms for citizens to pose referendum questions. Yet no empirical study has attempted to answer the question of howgovernment-sponsored referendum campaigns in countries with little history of direct democracy affect citizens'democratic comportment more generally.