You can look at it that way, and when you do, it sounds unfair that the success or failure of the Lisbon Treaty, which would create a new governing treaty for the European Union, should stand or fall based on what the Irish decide. But so it is with democracy; in a close race, one person's vote can decide the fate of an entire country. Not that it ever does, but it could.
I don't know enough to judge the Lisbon Treaty itself; it may be good or bad in the main, but I can say I am pleased that Ireland is standing by its own constitution, which requires that anything affecting the Irish constitution be decided by the Irish citizens themselves. The Dutch and French people have already been railroaded by their own governments.After voters in the Netherlands and France rejected a previous EU constitution in 2005, no other EU country dared to put such matters to their voters, instead pushing it through their national parliaments. Dutch and French voters have no direct say on the current treaty.
Certainly there are advantages to EU membership, but I'm glad that Switzerland has maintained its independence. I first saw some of the negative consequences of joining the EU on a visit to France, where I learned that the culture of the small, independent French farmer is under attack by the EU. The French government, appreciating the value of local, independent farms for both cultural and national security reasons, has been subsidizing the farmers. I know government subsidies can introduce unfortunate market kinks—and I don't appreciate our own government's subsidies of large agribusiness corporations—but even a "small government" person such as I can see the importance of spending money to protect a valuable, endangered species. But the EU says French farm subsidies are unfair to other member countries, and would rather have France import its food from Eastern Europe.
I know that some are hoping the EU will put a stop to Germany's draconian laws against homeschooling, and no one (except the German families) would like more than I to end that repression, but even I can't help feeling queasy at the thought of an external government dictating their laws.
The new treaty may be a good one for all I know, but I'm glad the Irish government has the courage (and constitutional responsibility) to let their own people vote on matters that will so greatly affect their future.
Not that democracy is everything. People can all too easily be beguiled into voting against their own best interests, to say nothing of the best interests of their neighbors, their country, and the world. That's probably the reason I hate to see the European countries giving up their independence. Many freedoms can be more or less guaranteed by a governing body, or not, but when push comes to shove, true freedom rests on being able to say, "No, thanks" and walk away from a repressive situation, be it a job or a country. That's why it's said that economic freedom is one of the most basic human rights there is, because it enforces the others. A German homeschooling family can currently escape German's persecution by moving to England, as some have done. They shouldn't have to do so, but they can. But what if they couldn't? What if the UK and France and Switzerland and Germany and Hungary and Lithuania were all subject to the same rules? Well, they could come to the United States. Unless we, too, put ourselves under the authority of another governing body that might have different views on the rights of families.
Homeschooling is just an example, which I use because the right to educate one's own children is especially dear to me. But there's a lot more to this issue than that. Alliances among nations are tricky things. Or among states; in the U.S. we have seen state laws gradually subsumed more and more by national regulation, so that fleeing to Pennsylvania from a repressive law in New York is not as easy as it once was. I'm not saying this is always bad, but it can be, and bears watching.
In any case, I'll be eager to see how the Irish people decide.
