ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses indicators of relations between mediated discourse and the changes in voting intentions, voting behavior, and diffuse and specific support. It is based on a detailed discourse analysis of media articles during the European Union (EU) referendum in France. It consisted of nearly all French far-left parties and groups, several trade unions, and also dissenters from the Green and Socialist Parties. Both the Greens and the Socialists were openly split on the referendum question, a fact that also marked the discourse. In the first Eurobarometer for 2005, of the French polled supported French EU membership. The general attitude of the French to a Constitutional Treaty was positive after the referendum. Moreover, as Rozenberg demonstrated, French MPs were much more likely to vote against the Constitutional Treaty in the national assembly if their constituencies voted against the Treaty in their majority.
