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