ABSTRACT
This chapter uses existing literature to help classify European Union (EU)-related referendums. It focuses on identifying 'crisis' type referendums. The chapter aims to investigate putative relationships between so-called crisis cases and referendum 'outcomes' across the various categories identified. It takes a different approach, relying on a more qualitative narrative to delve into the new dynamics of EU-related referendums and their crisis properties. To date there have been sixty referendums on EU-related matters making the referendum a key feature of the European integration process since the 1970s. Yet referendums on European integration come in many guises. One approach, using a standard ordinary least squares regression, could be to explain variation in the Yes vote share, where a Yes vote is always a pro-European integration position. The chapter illustrates some of the interactions among so-called crisis arenas. It excludes all third-country referendums since they have at best a limited impact on our core concern, the systemic crisis potential of EU-related referendums.
