French Socialism: An Exception in Europe?

Abstract

At the end of 2006, just a few months before the French presidential election was due to be held, observers of the French Socialist Party were presented with a paradox. While a year earlier, more than a half of electors who declared themselves to be close to the party chose to ignore the advice of the majority of the party’s leadership and membership and voted against the ratification of the European Constitutional Treaty, some opinion polls suggested that a majority of French people intended to vote for Ségolène Royal in the presidential election. The ambivalence of this situation indicates certain specific features of French socialism, as well as the PS’s influence as a governing party and the fragility of its political and organizational base.