Slide 2 France- unitary state Elections held with considerable
frequency at every territorial level Communes First European
country to enfranchise a mass electorate Women age 21 and older
granted the vote in 1944 Voting age lowered to 18 in 1974 Slide 3
Presidential Elections by Direct Popular Suffrage is the most
important expression of the General Will in France Slide 4 Right
and left Electoral system of the Fifth Republic favors
simplification of political alignments French party organizations
skeletal Fragmentary Modest linkage between national and local
Party membership low Party system became more competitive in 1980s
Main political parties dominate the organization of parliamentary
work and the selection of candidates Less important as mass
membership organizations Slide 5 19952002 Socialists nominate
Lionel Jospin RPF nominates Jacques Chirac (Mayor of Paris) The
second round Chirac 53% Jospin 47% First Round Chirac 20% Le Pen
edges out Jospin (16.2%) Socialists shocked, demoralized Second
Round Chirac 82% Le Pen 18% Slide 6 Historically levels of
participation high Fifth Republic: lower Abstention seldom reached
33% in parliamentary elections Elections for European parliament
abstention rises to almost 50% Elected every five years (577
members) Slide 7 First RoundSecond Round Similar to primary
elections in US Absolute majority for election One week after first
round Dropped if didnt receive 12.5% of registered voters on first
Plurality wins Many deals between first and second rounds Slide 8
Two large camps Left of center to far left Right of center to far
right Most political parties emerged from groups that began inside
of the legislature Mandate of career, conscience, and constituency
Slow and irregular industrialization hampered strong working-class
party Multiparty tradition Slide 9 Rally for the Republic (RPF)
Charles De Gaulle Conservative, rightist, older and wealthier
voters Lineal descendant of Gaullist party Thrown together in 1958
Georges Pompidou organizer For 16 years held both presidency and
premiership Held majority in National assembly after the massive
demonstrations of 1968 Slide 10 1981 -1988 Jacques Chiracs
presidential bid ends in defeat by Mitterand 1995 President Chirac
squeks in: Alain Jupp Prime Minister (RPF) 1997 election defeat of
RPF/Jupp replaced by Leonel Jospin (Socialist) 2002 victory - and
naming of Jean-Pierre Raffarin 2005 (May) Chirac names Dominique
Villepin as Prime Minister Slide 11 Union for French Democracy
Valery Giscard dEstaing and the Republicans Centerist alliance of
1978 creates UDN (Union for French Democracy) UDF becomes third
party on right after the election of national assembly elections of
1997 and the regional elections of 1998 Slide 12 Jean-Marie Le Pen
visible and vocal Far right, support from working class Young
Issues of law and order and immigration Split in 1998 Slide 13
Socialists: Party of Government in 1980s Return to power in 2012
Francois Mitterrand Stronger in local elections than in central
elections Party of Francois Mitterrand (after 1968) Emphasis on
Culture and public goods Greater concern with social justice than
with orthodox Marxist ideology Slide 14 Growing sense in 1990s that
Socialist Party leadership had worn out or lost touch Socialist
voters abandoned the government in the Maastrich referendum of 1992
Massive loss of parliamentary seats in 1993 Unexpected recovery in
1997 2002 again a massive loss of seats in the National Assembly
Slide 15 Socialist Party Alliance with working class weak Middle
class favor Support Industrial north Wine growers of south Civil
servants Teachers Fixed income individuals Slide 16 Communist Party
of France French Communist Party Headquarters Paris Major force
until 1970s Closely aligned with the Soviet Communist Party Swift
electoral decline Georges Marchais replaced by Robert Hue - 1994
Slide 17 Slide 18 Slide 19 From National party to local prominence
1978 -1979, national youth delegate for the RPR. 1979 1981,p
resident of the national youth delegates under Jacques Chirac
(presidential election of 1981) 1983 becomes mayor in the town of
Neuilly-sur-Seine. Slide 20 Upward in the National Party 1988,
national secretary of the RPR, in charge of youth and teaching
issues. Since 1993, member of the RPR political office. 1993 - 995,
Minster for the budget in the cabinet of Prime Minister Edouard
Balladur. 1995 - 1997, spokesman for the RPR 1998 - 1999, Secretary
General of the RPR Slide 21 1 Full employment by a policy of
encouragement and incentive to work for all. 2 Higher wages by
increasing working time on a voluntary base and a policy of
competitiveness of our companies. 3 Reduction of the social
contributions to the professional associations. 4 Increase the
skill of workforce make education more available vocational
training Slide 22 1 Equal opportunity to education 2 Evaluation of
teachers based on what students have learned. 3 To give autonomy to
the school establishments 4 Allow the parents to choose and remove
school establishment. 5 To allow all the parents to choose sports
and cultural activities in place of specified mandatory activities.
Slide 23 1 Adapt annual flows of immigration to the needs and the
capacities of reception of France., 2 Eliminate concern with
country of origin 3 Preferences to stable families 4 To attract the
best students according to the needs for our economy and those of
the countries of origin. 5 To develop the use of biometric
technologies to insure integrity of the official documents. Slide
24 1 Increase and protect the budget devoted to the Ministry for
the Culture 2 Emphasize acquisition of works, rather than on the
administrative expenditures. 3 Put artistic education at the school
in the middle of the step of cultural democratization. 4 Allow
artistic young people more access to the large schools and in the
university courses. 5 Regulate role of patrons and foundations
Slide 25 Difficulties associated with being a female candidate
(attacks from within her own party) First female candidate for
president Slide 26 Anti-abortion Forced military service
Reinstatement of the death penalty Opposes immigration,
particularly of Muslims Repeats proposal to send back 3 million
non-Europeans to their homeland Slide 27 The 2005 riots made
immigration and immigrants from North Africa a key issue in the
2007 French presidential election. Slide 28 Le Pen: longtime
proponent of addressing immigration and reinstating law and order,
has become more popular and relevant as a result of the riots.
Villipin : as Prime Minister implemented tougher restrictions on
immigration immediately after the riots. Sarkozy: referred to the
young people living in housing projects scum. President Chirac:
perceived mishandling of early riots and the socio-economic factors
leading to more rioting that damaged the candidates most associated
with him (especially Dominique de Villipan) Slide 29 Nicolas
Sarkozy Union for a Popular Movement (Union pour un mouvement
populaire) 11,448,663 31.18% Nicolas SarkozyUnion for a Popular
Movement Sgolne Royal Socialist Party (Parti socialiste) 9,500,112
25.87%Sgolne RoyalSocialist Party Franois Bayrou Union for French
Democracy (Union pour la dmocratie franaise) 6,820,119 18.57%
Franois BayrouUnion for French Democracy Jean-Marie Le Pen National
Front (Front national) 3,834,530 10.44% Jean-Marie Le PenNational
Front Results- Round 1 (Major Candidates) Slide 30 Olivier
Besancenot Revolutionary Communist League (Ligue communiste
rvolutionnaire) 1,498,581 4.08% Olivier BesancenotRevolutionary
Communist League Philippe de Villiers Movement for France
(Mouvement pour la France) 818,407 2.23% Philippe de
VilliersMovement for France Marie-George Buffet Popular and
anti-liberal Left, supported by the French Communist Party (gauche
populaire et antilibrale, soutenue par le Parti communiste franais)
707,268 1.93% Marie-George BuffetFrench Communist Party Dominique
Voynet The Greens (Les Verts) 576,666 1.57% Dominique VoynetThe
Greens Results - Round 1 (Minor Candidates) Slide 31 Nicolas
Sarkozy Union for a Popular Movement (Union pour un mouvement
populaire) Nicolas SarkozyUnion for a Popular Movement 18,983,138
53.06% Sgolne Royal Socialist Party (Parti socialiste) Sgolne
RoyalSocialist Party 16,790,440 46.94% Slide 32 Hollande
56.85.%Aubry 43.15% Favors European Constitution Advisor to
Mitterrand Author of heath care legislation From industrial north
Slide 33 LeftRight Socialists Sarkoxie ran for reelection Slide 34
Marine Le Pen Marine Le Pen National Front (Front national)
National Front FN 6,421,426 17.90% Jean-Luc Mlenchon Jean-Luc
Mlenchon Left Front (Front de gauche) Left Front FG 3,984,822
11.10% Franois Bayrou Franois Bayrou Democratic Movement (Mouvement
dmocrate) Democratic Movement MoDem 3,275,122 9.13% Europe
cologieThe Greens (Europe cologieLes Verts) Europe cologieThe
Greens 828,345 (2.31%) Others (2.9% ) Others (2.9% ) Slide 35
Franois Hollande Franois Hollande Socialist Party (Parti
socialiste) Socialist Party PS 10,272,705 28.63% 18,000,668 51.64%
Nicolas Sarcoxie Nicolas Sarcoxie Union for a Popular Movement
(Union pour un mouvement populaire) Union for a Popular Movement
UMP 9,753,629 27.18% 16,860,685 48.36%
