ABSTRACT
The Maastricht Treaty was rati¿ ed with very large majorities in the legislatures of all the member states of the European Community (Bogdanor, 1996: 101). Initially no one questioned whether these majorities reÀ ected the wishes of the electorates of the member states. Three countries put the question directly to the people, Denmark, France and Ireland. The results in the former two shook the European establishment to its foundations. Some Europeans had diverged quite seriously from their elected representatives and by expressing their displeasure, were responsible for the eruption of the people onto the stage of European integration.
