politics in france political parties and political elite
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Politics in France
Political parties and political elite
Low confidence in parties
Multiparty system
• National Assembly election in 2002– 79 parties presented 8,424 candidates – 4 main parties got 68% of the votes– 7 parties are in the National Assembly– formed into 5 parliamentary groups
• weak party organization– fragmentary and local orientation– abstract and ideological style
Single-member districts
Main parties
• Rally for the Republic (RPR)
• Union for French Democracy (UDF)
• National Front (FN)
• Socialist Party (PS)
• French Communist Party (PCF)
• Greens
Left parties/Right parties/FN
• Men 38% 42% 13%
• Women 40% 43% 11%
• 18-24 40% 39% 6%
• 25-34 45% 26% 16%
• 35-49 49% 35% 11%
• 50-64 35% 49% 13%
• 65+ 28% 57% 13%
Rally for the Republic (RPR)
• Gaullist party held both presidency and premiership 1958 - 1974
• transformed into RPR by Chirac in 1974
• classic conservative constituency– older, wealthier voters– farmers
• largest party in France (100,000 members)
Union for French Democracy
• UDF
• Electoral alliance of various conservative and central groups in 1978
• cooperated with RPR since 1981
• UDF split in 1998: Liberal Democracy (DL)
• RPR, DL, and part of UDF formed UMP (Union for the People's Movement) in 2002
National Front (FN)
• founded in 1972 by Le Pen
• fears of immigration, the “dilution” of French nationality and culture, and European integration
• present racist ideas with a more acceptable pro-family and patriotic veneer
• split in 1999
National Front (FN)
• proportional representation rule– Year Votes in 1st ballot Seats in Parliament– 1986 9.9% 35
• reversion to single-member district rule– 1988 9.8% 1– 1993 12.7% 0– 1997 15.1% 1– 2002 11.3% 0
Duverger’s Law
• Plurality single-member district election rules tend to create two-party systems in the legislature– smaller parties that receive a minority of the
vote across many district receive little or no representation in Parliament
• Proportional representation electoral systems generate multiple party systems in the legislature
2002 elections
• Presidential candid./ 1st ballot/ 2nd ballot– Chirac (RPR) 19.9% 82.2%– Le Pen (FN) 16.9% 17.8%– Jospin (PS) 16.2%
• National Assembly/ 1st ballot/ Seats– RPR & DL 33.7% 357– PS 24.1% 140– FN 11.3% 0
Parties on the left
• Socialist Party (PS)– support from
• the salaried middle classes• professionals• civil service• teaching profession
• Mitterrand’s Presidency (1981 - 1995)– classical socialist ideology was dismantled
Parties on the left
• French Communist Party (PCF)– ceased to be a revolutionary party– electorally dominant on the left until 1978– cooperation with PS
Interest groups
• Connections with political parties– ideological roots and commitments– weak organizational connections with parties
• relatively small membership base– 1/10 of workers, 1/2 of farmers, 3/4 of large
industrial enterprises
• ideological division of representation– radicalism in action and announced objectives
Economic policy
• Gaullists’ “thirty glorious years”– nationalization of firms– General Planning Commission– state intervention
• decline since 1973– privatization and nationalization of firms– unemployment rate over 10% since 1986– burden of the welfare state
Welfare state
Elite recruitment
• Grandes écoles– ENA: National School of Administration
• graduates dominate– key branches of civil service– key positions in politics– top business executives
“Political class”
• Political elite - decision makers– Parliament members– elected local government officials– local party leaders– journalists of national renown– …– no more than 15 to 20 thousand people
“Iron triangle”
• Top civil servants– in National Assembly– training and recruitment grounds for top
positions in both politics and industry
• Effort at opening up the narrow elite recruitment process since 1980s– new admissions procedures– top bureaucrats impact national government
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