Emmanuel Macron’s victory in the 2017 presidential elections represents one of the most important disruptions to French political life since the establishment of the Fifth Republic. This book analyses the political opportunities enabling a neophyte to conquer the Elysée, and the conditions leading to the unprecedented presidential runoff between this centrist EU enthusiast and pro-globalization candidate and the nationalistic/populist alternative embodied by Marine Le Pen. The book begins by considering trends in party competition and presidentialism in modern France, notably presidential primaries and their impact on party competition. It then moves to considering the role traditional explanatory factors in elections, namely policies and voter profiles, played in the result. Finally, it examines the dynamics of President Macron’s success in the legislatives, and how he dominated the traditional party blocs. This book will appeal to students of French politics as well as those interested in electoral behaviour and European political systems.
Jocelyn Evans
Emmanuel Macron 2017 French Presidential election Marine Le Pen presidentialism in France French political history French politics French electoral behaviour Fifth Republic En Marche National Front 2017 French presidential debates 2017 French election manifestoes right-wing populism far-right politics and nationalism
“The introduction sets the election in a wider context that even readers with no real knowledge or particular hankering for French politics should find easy enough to absorb. … This is an essential book for anyone teaching French politics today--all the more so since textbooks in the broader field have become thin on the ground. It is certainly a must have for university libraries.” (Paul Smith, H-France Review, Vol. 19 (36), March, 2019)
“This book provides a fascinating analysis of the 2017 French elections. The extraordinary electoral sequence that led Emmanuel Macron to the Presidency of the French Republic, with its many singular events, but also its underlying trends, is set out here with the help of political and empirical analyses based on an ample set of data. This book is both an academic work, underpinned by concepts and recent methods in political science, and at the same time a book for a wider, informed readership. The recent electoral history of France and more generally of political studies into the transformation of party systems and voters in Europe are at the very heart of this book.” (Professor Bruno Cautrès, Sciences Po / Cevipof, Paris, France)