France Says No: The 29 May 2005 Referendum on the European Constitution

Asymmetric ratification standards and popular perceptions of legitimacy

“…Due to its binding character, the French vote was the first referendum with formal veto power. While French opinion polls had predicted a comfortable majority in favor of the constitutional treaty during the months after announcement of the referendum in March 2004, acceptance decreased markedly from February 2005 onwards (Hainsworth, 2006Marthaler, 2005. In the run-up to the French vote, opinion polls predicted a tight race (Marthaler, 2005).…”

“…This result was supported by a rather high turnout of 69 per cent. Consequently, the French rejection was a fundamental blow to the EU constitution, signaling a sudden death of the project across Europe (Hainsworth, 2006). The high level of uncertainty around the French vote and its clear and consequential results provide a good setting for a quasi-experiment.…”

Better = faster? Explaining citizens’ desired speed of European integration

“…This procedural nature is the theoretical point of departure for the reasoning about the public opinion towards the integration process. In the aftermath of the failed referendums in France, The Netherlands and Ireland, in addition to the well-known explanatory approaches described below (Eichenberg and Dalton 2007;Hainsworth 2006; Van Klingeren, Boomgaarden, and De Vreese 2013), the temporal component was highlighted in the public discourse. The catchphrase of 'too much too soon' (Eichenberg and Dalton 2007) became prominent as an explanation for the public refusal of further Ei and was spread within the political and academic world.…”

Mister Unpopular: François Hollande and the Exercise of Presidential Leadership, 2012–14

“…Moreover, even in the position of first secretary of the Socialist Party (1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008), Hollande acquired the reputation of being a manager who sought to minimise conflict and pursue consensus across the different factions. His reluctance to assert his authority was particularly evident during the 2005 referendum campaign on the European constitution, when Hollande allowed the party to be openly divided and he lost legitimacy by backing the losing 'Yes' side in the popular vote (Hainsworth 2006).…”