Political Participation and Democracy

Abstract

Elections, political campaigns, street protests and debates: the French political landscape always provides an intriguing opportunity for citizens to be active. Even French institutions are keen to make sure individuals take advantage of their right to political expression. For instance, the French government¹ informs citizens on how to get involved in associations, from general rules to specific legal details. With the same commitment, the city of Paris hosts an annual forum of associations² to support and advise a potential average of 55,000 organizations formed in the capital alone. Indirectly, French authorities are encouraging citizens to be responsible participants in the democratic system they are part of, to the point of generating on a regular basis quite a few large gatherings, with the ritual street march, to illustrate specific demands in regard to a new law or government policy. In the fall of 2008 for instance, high school students, parents and teachers joined forces on a Saturday afternoon in a street protest leaving Place d’Italie in Paris to complain about the high school education curriculum reform the government had implemented. In a parallel case a few weeks later, media journalists and technicians from public radio and TV stations assembled at the Tour Eiffel to manifest their disappointment and opposition to a government project changing policies regarding on-the-air commercial promotions and election rules to the national audiovisual council.