The French Party System and the Crisis of Representation

Abstract

The crisis of representation has been a recurrent theme in recent discussions of the state of the French political system. The rise in voter abstention and the obvious weakening of the link between voters and political parties have led observers to blame Fifth Republic institutions as well as the parties, seen as responsible for not having been able to adapt to citizens’ demands. The French political system, which in the seventies and eighties was a well-oiled machine, is said to have slowly frozen up, putting democracy in France in a critical situation.