Parties, Voters and Elections

Abstract

The ideological heritage and the institutional structures described in Chapter 8 have provided the broad context within which the party political contests of the Fifth Republic have been fought out. The parties’ fortunes have fluctuated, and their approach, strategy and tactics have varied. The first decade of the Fifth Republic was dominated by the emergence of the Gaullist Party, and the development of a governing coalition. The 1970s were the period in which the Socialist party was building up the position and support that led to its victory in 1981. During the 1980s the political pattern shifted again, as the Communist party declined, the extreme right National Front began to be prominent on the political scene and the Ecologists also started to attract votes.