The French party system

Edited by Jocelyn Evans

Publication date:

31 July 2003

Length of book:

232 pages

Publisher

Manchester University Press

Dimensions:

234x156mm

ISBN-13: 9780719061202

BOOK DESCRIPTION
TABLE OF CONTENTS

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