The results of the Presidential elections of April-May 1995 confirm that there are currently two parallel trends in French politics. On the one hand the mainstream left and mainstream right are increasingly contesting the middle ground, and a majority of voters accept this. On the other hand, a substantial minority of the electorate is keen to protest against the inability of any of the major parties to remedy France's socio-economic ills, and therefore votes for the marginal parties, the parties of dissension and protest.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BaudouinJ. (1990), ‘Le «Moment néo-libéral» du RPR: Essai d'interprétation’, Revue française de science politique, vol 40, no 6, 1990.
2.
CayrolR.PerrineauP. (1988), ‘La Défaite du politique’, in CayrolR.PerrineauP. (eds.), Le Guide du pouvoir. Paris: Éditions Jean-François Doumic.
3.
DupinÉ., ‘L’Éclatement. Sanction pour le PS et stagnation pour l'UPF’, in Libération, 23 March, 1992.
4.
Esping-AndersonG. (1991), ‘Postindustrial Cleavage Structures: A Comparison of Evolving Patterns of Social Stratification in Germany, Sweden and the United States’, in PivenF. Fox (ed.), Labour Parties in Postindustrial Societies. Cambridge: Polity.
5.
GrouxG.MouriauxR. (1994), ‘Syndicalisme sans syndiqués: Dimensions et dilemmes’, in PerrineauP. (ed.), L'Engagement politique. Déclin ou mutation?Paris: Presses de la Fondation nationale des sciences politiques.
6.
HaywardJ. (1994), ‘Ideological Change: The Exhaustion of the Revolutionary Impetus’, in HallP.HaywardJ.MachinH. (eds.), Developments in French Politics. London: MacMillan. (2nd edition.).
7.
Mossuz-LavauJ. (1994), Les Français et la politique. Enquête sur une crise, Paris: Éditions Odile Jacob.
