It seems that, as usual in these studies, the main conclusion is that one can't draw a conclusion! That is to say, people vote or don't vote for many different reasons: local as well as national. This is a necessary corrective to sweeping statements about the opinions of 'the people of France'.

One point of interest was that the turnout for the mayoral elections was dramatically higher than for the plebiscite on the Acte Additionnel which suggests the low turnout for the latter was due to deliberate boycott rather than just voter apathy.

Susan