The French Party System [Paperback]

This book provides a complete overview of the of parties in France. The social and ideological profiles of all the major parties are analysed chapter by chapter, highlighting their principal functions and dynamics within the system. These are complemented by analyses of bloc and system features, including the pluralist left, Europe, and the ideological space in which the parties operate. In particular, the book addresses the impressive capacity of French parties and their leaders to adapt themselves to the changing concerns of their electorates and to a shifting institutional context.

Introduction

1. Stress, strain and stability in the French party system - Alistair Cole

SECTION I - THE LEFT

2. The French Communist Party: from revolution to reform - David Bell

3. PS intra-party politics and party system change - Ben Clift

4. The Greens: from idealism to pragmatism (1984-2002) - Bruno Villalba and Sylvie Vieillard-Coffre

5. Managing the plural left: implications for the party system - David Hanley

6. Beyond the mainstream: la gauche de gauche - Jim Wolfreys

SECTION II - THE RIGHT

7. The UDF in the 1990s: the break-up of a party confederation - Nicolas Sauger

8. From the Gaullist movement to the President's party - Andrew Knapp

9. The Front National split: party system change and electoral prospects - Gilles Ivaldi

SECTION III - SYSTEMIC CONTEXT

10. Europe and the French party system - Jocelyn Evans

11. Contemporary developments in political space in France - Robert Andersen and Jocelyn Evans

Conclusion

Jocelyn Evans is Lecturer in Politics at the University of Salford