[LINK] pompe on the French Referendum

[rfmcdonald]

pompe suggests in his notes on the failure of the pro-constitution side in France's recent referendum (1, 2) that it might have been brought about by a red-versus-blue split similar to that prevailing in the United States. As former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt notes on his blog, rural areas of France voted strongly against the constitution, along with cities and areas hit hard by economic change, while prosperous urban areas generally voted substantially for the constitution. It will be interesting to see if these patterns hold true in the Netherlands in the light of that country's upcoming referendum.