A red letter day: Investigating the renaissance of the French far left in the 2012 presidential election

Abstract

This article extends the current literature on European far-left parties by investigating the sociodemographic, ideological and attitudinal profile of the French far-left voter in the 2012 Presidential Elections. Particular emphasis is placed on the impact of the economic crisis on the sudden electoral rise of the French far left and factors such as economic hardship, change of economic conditions, attitudes toward economic inequality and Euroscepticism. Results suggest that explanations based purely on economic factors fall short of explaining the totality of the French far-left vote, especially if compared with the other parties of the French far left. Instead, attitudes toward Europe and post-materialism are central in the understanding of the renaissance of the French far left. On the basis of these findings we reach a number of conclusions regarding the future of far-left parties in France and Europe.

Does System Justification Promote Establishment Voting? Mainstream Politics in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom

“…In France, ethnic intolerance is typically the strongest predictor of voting for the far right (Mayer, 2013, 2014; Mayer & Perrineau, 1992; Vasilopoulos & Lachat, 2018), whereas support for income redistribution predicts support for the far left (Vasilopoulos et al, 2015). The analysis in Table 1 confirms both trends with respect to the 2017 presidential election.…”

“…At the other end of the ideological spectrum, new far‐left parties have threatened establishment politics in France, Spain, and Greece (Orriols & Cordero, 2016; Ramiro, 2016; Stavrakakis & Katsambekis, 2014; Vasilopoulos et al, 2015). Unlike the far right, parties on the far left typically appeal to low‐income and dissatisfied, yet highly educated, cosmopolitan, and postmaterialist segments of the electorate that are concerned with rising income inequality and the lack of economic redistribution (Algan et al, 2017; Beaudonnet & Gomez, 2017; March & Rommerskirchen, 2015; Mayer, 2011; Rooduijn et al, 2017; Vasilopoulos et al, 2015; Visser et al, 2014).…”

Fransa’da Değişen Siyasal Paradigma Çerçevesinde Radikal Solun Yükselişi

“…FG'nin kampanyasının özünü, Avrupa sosyal modelini tehdit eden neoliberal Avrupa düşüncesine karşı mücadele oluşturmuştur. Bu itibarla "Fransa' da asgari ücretin 1700 Euro olarak belirlenmesi, ücret eşitsizliklerinin azaltılması, işten çıkarmaların sona erdirilmesi, kamu hizmetlerinin korunması ve geliştirilmesi, işçilere ve işsizlere yeni haklar sağlanması, 60 yaşında tam emeklilik hakkının kazanılması ve Lizbon Anlaşması'nın terk edilmesi" gibi talepleri dile getiren FG, yüzde 6.5 oy alarak bir önceki seçimlere kıyasla PCF' den daha başarılı bir performans sergilemiştir(Vasilopoulos, Beaudonnet ve Cautrès, 2015). Oy artışının ardından sol ittifakın 2010 bölgesel seçimleri ve 2012 Başkanlık seçimlerini kapsayacak biçimde ve yeni örgütlerin katılımıyla sürdürülmesi kararlaştırılmıştır.…”