Provincial Interests and Political Integration : Voting in the French Maastricht Referendum

In September 1992 French voters approved the Maastrict Treaty. This paper analyzes political and economic forces that affected French voters, and the links between the progress of European integration and changes in the pattern of redistribution. A model of referendum choice is tested against a dataset of 229 cities and 91 departments. Common Agricultural Program subsidies are correlated with weaker support for European integration. Previous support for European integration and pro-European politicians are correlated with stronger support for ratification, as are higher incomes and higher proportions of nonnatives. Unemployment has little effect on city voters when other controls are used, although it has a strong effect on rural voters. Regressions explain about four-fifths of the variance and provide strong confirmation of the predictions of the model