DOCSLIB.ORG

California State University, Northridge

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
California State University, Northridge CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE Unemployment, Immigration and the Rise of the National Front in France A graduate project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Arts in Political Science By Sigfredo Ramos Martinez May 2019 The graduate project of Sigfredo Ramos Martinez is Approved: _______________________ ________________ Dr. Jennifer DeMaio Date _______________________ ________________ Dr. Tyler Hughes Date _______________________ ________________ Dr. Alexandra Cole Macias, Chair Date CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE ii Table of Contents Signature Page ii List of Tables iv List of Figures v Abstract vi Part I 1 Introduction 1 Party Leadership and Organizational Capacity 4 Political Opportunity Structure 9 The European Union, Unemployment and Immigration 14 Voting for the National Front 17 Part II 23 Data Analysis 23 Electoral results 24 First Environmental Factor: Unemployment 28 Second Environmental Factor: Immigration 33 Part III 36 Conclusion 36 Bibliography 38 iii List of Tables Table Page 1 Comparison of Electoral Support base (%) 1987 20 2 Percentage votes of National Front by Demographic 1988,20017 & 2012 21 3 The Percentage and Number votes of National Front Legislative Elections 1986-1997 24 4 Percentage and Number support for the FN during 2002-2017 Legislative Elections 26 5 Bivariate Correlation For Unemployment During Legislative Election Years 30 6 Bivariate Correlation Analysis for Immigration and Party Votes Received 34 iv List of Figures Figure Page 1 National Unemployment in France During Legislative Elections 1986-2017 28 2 Amount of Immigrants arriving in France During Legislative Election Years 1986-2017 32 v Abstract Unemployment, Immigration and the Rise of the National Front in France By Sigfredo Ramos Martinez Master of Arts in Political Science The National Front which was founded in 1972, has become one of the oldest continuously running political parties in France. It has also become a model for all European parties of the far right. Although it has never been in government, the National Front has slowly expanded over time and was on the verge of winning the French presidency in 2017. This paper will take a look at some of the factors that have helped the party establish itself in French politics. While some attention will be paid to the manner in which the party has established itself and how it was able to do, the main focus of this paper is the influence of unemployment and immigration as the top two most important issues for voters of the National Front. The paper will seek to determine if there is a correlation between unemployment and immigration rates in France, and electoral support for the National Front. vi PART I Introduction In the 1970s, a new political party appeared on the French political stage bent on challenging the established political parties of the left and the right alike. This new “extreme party of the right” was the National Front, led by a veteran of both the wars in Indochina (1946- 1954) and of Algerian Independence (1954-1962), Jean Marie Le Pen. Under his leadership, the National Front slowly grew from a fringe party to a political contender. The party has contested French presidential elections four times, and in two of these presidential elections they made it to the second round. The 2017 presidential election marked the closest the party has ever been to the presidential palace. The rise of the National Front has been the topic of numerous research articles, with many scholars studying the different factors used to explain their rise in French politics. There are three factors which I attribute to the rise of the party. First there is what one could call a personal factor which is the leadership of Jean Marie Le Pen (and eventually his daughter Marine Le Pen) as well as the organizational capacity of the party. Second there are factors that are internal to the French political system. These factors are political cleavages and the importance of media access in the system. Third, and last there is what I would call the environmental factor. This third factor can be split into two categories, the first being factors from outside the French political system which have had an impact on French society. An example of this is the rise of globalization and the centralization of power of the European Union in Brussels, which could be argued to have aided in a resurgence of right-wing populism throughout Europe. Secondly there are the factors that impact French politics and originate from within the country itself. Of these there are two main factors that I will argue have had great 1 effect on the rise of the party. The first of the two is the issue of immigration in France, which has been present since the 1980s. The National Front has used this issue several times since decolonization, and up to the more recent Syrian refugee crisis. The second environmental factor is that of high unemployment levels in France. As France moved away from an industrial economy and transitioned to a more globalized and service-based market, many of the workers who worked in factories that were shut down found appeal in the National Front’s promise to bring those jobs back. In addition to these environmental factors which have contributed to the National Front, there have been smaller events which have helped improve the party’s electoral profile. Such events have been: the normalization of the party’s issue granted by media airtime and mainstream parties bringing the issues of the FN to the forefront. (Schain 1997). Scholars have suggested that the National Front has served as a prototype party for the European far right (Mudde 2007). Given this, it is important to understand the National Front in order to understand the other parties of the European far right. By studying how this party gained traction, it will be possible to look at other such parties and draw comparisons between the personal, institutional, and environmental factors that may have led to their rise. The aim of this paper is to focus on the internal environmental factors to see if there is a empirical relationship between rising unemployment & immigration, and the rise of the FN. This argument is not unheard of, there have been scholars who point to socioeconomic factors which may have helped push the National Front forward (Veugelers 1997, Perrineau 1988, Taylor 1997, et al.) as well as demographics of the FN’s voter base (ie. Perrineau 1988). Given the prevalence of the FN’s anti-immigration platform and its repetitive promise to bring working class jobs “back into France”, it seems wise to determine if there is a correlation 2 between the actual conditions and the support for the National Front. Such an analysis was applied to some of the explanations for Brexit, where unemployment in working class jobs and rising immigration were prevalent issues emphasized by the conservative proponents of the leave campaign (Calhoun 2017). Research found that there was actually no correlation between rising unemployment & immigration and voting for “Leave”. In terms of immigration, researchers have found that some of the areas with the least immigration (i.e. rural) tended to have voted ‘leave’ as compared to urban centers where immigration rates were substantially higher, yet these centers (ie. London) voted to remain. This paper will undertake a similar analysis and ask the question “are Unemployment or immigration levels correlated with the growth of the National Front”? It is also important to take note of the other factors that have influenced the rise of this party, such as the personal and institutional factors. This paper will take a brief look at these additional factors and their roles in the rise of the National Front in order to help give context to the rise and the solidification of the party in French politics. The leadership of the Le Pens, rise of anti-globalism, and the high unemployment and immigration levels in France are important to explain FN success. This work will examine these factors as well in order to determine the role they played in the growth of the party. 3 Party Leadership and Organizational Capacity The National Front is not a party that emerged organically but came about as a reaction to events and the ongoing failure of the far right in France to unite and win seats in government. The outcome of the second World War left a strong and negative view of not only fascism, but of the far right for most French people. After the war, the far-right parties of France were small and fragmented into groups. None of these parties could gain any traction due to the ties many officials in these parties had to the Vichy government that had been set up by and collaborated with the Nazi government (Williams 2011). The support that groups such as nationalists had shown these parties had diminished greatly. However, far right sentiment began to reappear during the decolonization era as France lost long time colonial possessions in Vietnam and throughout Africa. France’s military defeats prompted disgruntled former soldiers to form small political groups such as l’Ordre Nouveau and L’Occident. It was from the Ordre Nouveau that the National Front planted it’s roots. In the late 1970s the Ordre Nouveau sought to unify the French far right parties under one banner in order to create a strong presence in the French National Assembly. In June 1972, the Front National pour une Unite Francaise (UNFUF) was formed, then later in October of the same year, it was renamed the Front National (Stockemer 2017). The party’s most prominent members, Francois Duprat and Jean Marie Le Pen were both experienced politicians by the time the party had been formed.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • France Background
    The World Factbook Europe :: France Introduction :: France Background: France today is one of the most modern countries in the world and is a leader among European nations. It plays an influential global role as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, NATO, the G-8, the G-20, the EU and other multilateral organizations. France rejoined NATO's integrated military command structure in 2009, reversing de Gaulle's 1966 decision to take French forces out of NATO. Since 1958, it has constructed a hybrid presidential-parliamentary governing system resistant to the instabilities experienced in earlier, more purely parliamentary administrations. In recent decades, its reconciliation and cooperation with Germany have proved central to the economic integration of Europe, including the introduction of a common currency, the euro, in January 1999. In the early 21st century, five French overseas entities - French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, and Reunion - became French regions and were made part of France proper. Geography :: France Location: metropolitan France: Western Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay and English Channel, between Belgium and Spain, southeast of the UK; bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and Spain French Guiana: Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Brazil and Suriname Guadeloupe: Caribbean, islands between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean, southeast of Puerto Rico Martinique: Caribbean, island between the Caribbean Sea and North Atlantic Ocean,
    [Show full text]
  • Country Fact Sheet, Democratic Republic of the Congo
    Issue Papers, Extended Responses and Country Fact Sheets file:///C:/Documents and Settings/brendelt/Desktop/temp rir/Country Fact... Français Home Contact Us Help Search canada.gc.ca Issue Papers, Extended Responses and Country Fact Sheets Home Country Fact Sheet DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO April 2007 Disclaimer This document was prepared by the Research Directorate of the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada on the basis of publicly available information, analysis and comment. All sources are cited. This document is not, and does not purport to be, either exhaustive with regard to conditions in the country surveyed or conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. For further information on current developments, please contact the Research Directorate. Table of Contents 1. GENERAL INFORMATION 2. POLITICAL BACKGROUND 3. POLITICAL PARTIES 4. ARMED GROUPS AND OTHER NON-STATE ACTORS 5. FUTURE CONSIDERATIONS ENDNOTES REFERENCES 1. GENERAL INFORMATION Official name Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Geography The Democratic Republic of the Congo is located in Central Africa. It borders the Central African Republic and Sudan to the north; Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania to the east; Zambia and Angola to the south; and the Republic of the Congo to the northwest. The country has access to the 1 of 26 9/16/2013 4:16 PM Issue Papers, Extended Responses and Country Fact Sheets file:///C:/Documents and Settings/brendelt/Desktop/temp rir/Country Fact... Atlantic Ocean through the mouth of the Congo River in the west. The total area of the DRC is 2,345,410 km².
    [Show full text]
  • PDF Hosted at the Radboud Repository of the Radboud University Nijmegen
    PDF hosted at the Radboud Repository of the Radboud University Nijmegen The following full text is a publisher's version. For additional information about this publication click this link. http://hdl.handle.net/2066/113464 Please be advised that this information was generated on 2017-12-06 and may be subject to change. NIJMEEGSE PLANOLOGISCHE CAHIERS No. 27 FRENCH LAND USE PLANNING IN THE FIFTH REPUBLIC real or imagined decentralisation? ^:ц л« I.B.Wilson GEOGRAFISCH EN PLANOLOGISCH INSTITUUT ΚΑΤΗ. UNIVERSITEIT NIJMEGEN CIP - GEGEVENS KONINKLIJKE BIBLIOTHEEK, DEN HAAG Wilson, Irene В French land use planning in the Fifth Republic real or imagined decentralisatin9 / by Irene В Wilson - Nijmegen Katholieke Universiteit, Geografisch en Planologisch Instituut ILL , fig , tab - (Nijmeegse planologische cahiers, 27) (Advanced environmental studies, 3) Ooi« vorachenen als proefoohrift Utrocht, 1988 - Met reg © ISBN 90-70219-23-9 SISO eu-fran 719 13 UDC 711 3(44) NUGI 655 Trefw Planologie, Frankrijk FRENCH LAND USE PLANNING IN THE FIFTH REPUBLIC real or imagined decentralisation? PROEFSCHMFT TER VERKRIJGING VAN DE GRAAD VAN DOCTOR AAN DE KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT TE NUMEGEN OP GEZAG VAN DE RECTOR MAGNIHCUS PROF. Dr. B.M.F. VAN IERSEL VOLGENS BESLUIT VAN HET COLLEGE VAN DECANEN IN HET OPENBAAR TE VERDEDIGEN OP DINSDAG 12 JANUARI 1988 DES NAMIDDAGS OM 3.30 UUR PRECIES door IRENE BRAID WILSON geboren te Stirling, Schotland Promotor : Prof. Dr. G.A. Wissink CONTENTS Acknowledgements (iv) List of Tables (v) List of Figures (vii) List of Appendices (viii)
    [Show full text]
  • European Election Study 2014 EES 2014 Voter Study First Post-Electoral Study
    European Election Study 2014 EES 2014 Voter Study First Post-Electoral Study Release Notes Sebastian Adrian Popa Hermann Schmitt Sara B Hobolt Eftichia Teperoglou Original release 1 January 2015 MZES, University of Mannheim Acknowledgement of the data Users of the data are kindly asked to acknowledge use of the data by always citing both the data and the accompanying release document. How to cite this data: Schmitt, Hermann; Popa, Sebastian A.; Hobolt, Sara B.; Teperoglou, Eftichia (2015): European Parliament Election Study 2014, Voter Study. GESIS Data Archive, Cologne. ZA5160 Data file Version 2.0.0, doi:10.4232/1. 12300 and Schmitt H, Hobolt SB and Popa SA (2015) Does personalization increase turnout? Spitzenkandidaten in the 2014 European Parliament elections. European Union Politics, Online first available for download from: http://eup.sagepub.com/content/early/2015/06/03/1465116515584626.full How to cite this document: Sebastian Adrian Popa, Hermann Schmitt, Sara B. Hobolt, and Eftichia Teperoglou (2015) EES 2014 Voter Study Advance Release Notes. Mannheim: MZES, University of Mannheim. Acknowledgement of assistance The 2014 EES voter study was funded by a consortium of private foundations under the leadership of Volkswagen Foundation (the other partners are: Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, Stiftung Mercator, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian). It profited enormously from to synergies that emerged from the co-operation with the post-election survey funded by the European Parliament. Last but certainly not least, it benefited from the generous support of TNS Opinion who did the fieldwork in all the 28 member countries . The study would not have been possible the help of many colleagues, both members of the EES team and country experts form the wider academic community, who spent valuable time on the questionnaire and study preparation, often at very short notice.
    [Show full text]
  • From Votes to Seats: FOUR FAMILIES of ELECTORAL SYSTEMS
    From Votes to Seats: FOUR FAMILIES OF ELECTORAL SYSTEMS Prepared by Larry Johnston under the direction of the Ontario Citizens’ Assembly Secretariat TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Chapter 1 Introduction to Electoral Systems . .1 Chapter 2 Plurality Family First Past the Post . .9 Chapter 3 Majority Family Alternative Vote . .17 Two-Round System . .23 Chapter 4 Proportional Representation Family List Proportional Representation . .27 Single Transferable Vote . .36 Chapter 5 Mixed Family Mixed Member Proportional . .41 Parallel . .50 Glossary . .53 DESIGN AND LAYOUT www.citizensassembly.gov.on.ca WWW.PICCADILLY.ON.CA CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO ELECTORAL SYSTEMS and the selection of its leader. ELECTORAL So the significance of the electoral system goes SYSTEM far beyond its immediate function of translating votes into seats. It also affects the party system, Having citizens elect members of the legislature is the nature of the government, and the composition a feature common to all democracies. These elected of the executive (the Cabinet). representatives are responsible for making laws, and for approving the raising and spending of public funds. The electoral system is the way citizens’ Political parties group voters with similar political beliefs so preferences, expressed as votes, are translated they can elect candidates who will promote common policies. into legislative seats. In contemporary democracies, where polling and mass market- Most people who seek election to the legislature ing expertise drive election contests, parties are indispensable do so as candidates of a political party. This means for their ability to gather the resources (human and financial) that turning votes into seats is also a process of distributing the legislative seats among the different needed for a successful campaign.
    [Show full text]
  • France: Factors Shaping Foreign Policy, and Issues in U.S.-French Relations
    France: Factors Shaping Foreign Policy, and Issues in U.S.-French Relations Paul Belkin Analyst in European Affairs April 14, 2011 Congressional Research Service 7-5700 www.crs.gov RL32464 CRS Report for Congress Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress France: Factors Shaping Foreign Policy, and Issues in U.S.-French Relations Summary The factors that shape French foreign policy have changed since the end of the Cold War. The perspectives of France and the United States have diverged in some cases. More core interests remain similar. Both countries’ governments have embraced the opportunity to build stability in Europe through an expanded European Union (EU) and NATO. Each has recognized that terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction are the most important threats to their security today. Several factors shape French foreign policy. France has a self-identity that calls for efforts to spread French values and views, many rooted in democracy and human rights. France prefers to engage international issues in a multilateral framework, above all through the European Union. European efforts to form an EU security policy potentially independent of NATO emerged in this context. However, more recently, policymakers in France, Europe and the United States have come to view a stronger European defense arm as a complement to rather than a substitute for NATO. From the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States through the Iraq war of 2003 until today, France has pressed the United States to confront emerging crises within a multilateral framework. France normally wishes to “legitimize” actions ranging from economic sanctions to military action in the United Nations.
    [Show full text]
  • "The World Culture Entered Turkey" New Conflict Lines and the Challenges for Democratic Consolidation in Turkey
    PRIF Report No. 139 "The World Culture Entered Turkey" New Conflict Lines and the Challenges for Democratic Consolidation in Turkey Idil Gögüs/Sabine Mannitz the © Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) 2016 Correspondence to: PRIF Baseler Straße 27–31 60329 Frankfurt am Main Germany Telephone: +49 69 959104-0 Fax: +49 69 558481 E-mail: [email protected] [email protected] Internet: www.prif.org ISBN: 978-3-946459-05-7 Euro 10,00 € Summary Turkish society is politically divided to an extent that made even German Chancellor Angela Merkel mention the necessity of overcoming internal divisions when she congratulated Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu on winning the election on 2 November 2015. Divergences within Turkish society involving different views concerning the best path of development have a tradition that reaches back into Ottoman times. When the republic of Turkey was founded in 1923 the modernization project of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his followers set the goals for the country’s development in the decades to follow. The sweeping Kemalist reforms met with resistance from different sections of Turkish society from an early stage because they excluded the existing plurality conceptually, especially religion as a legitimate source for public moral order: Ethnic minorities such as the Kurds, whose striving for their own sovereign state had been ignored in the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne, were not willing to subscribe to the nationalist construction of the Turkish citizenry. The radical version of secularism that state founder Mustafa
    [Show full text]
  • Codebook CPDS I 1960-2013
    1 Codebook: Comparative Political Data Set, 1960-2013 Codebook: COMPARATIVE POLITICAL DATA SET 1960-2013 Klaus Armingeon, Christian Isler, Laura Knöpfel, David Weisstanner and Sarah Engler The Comparative Political Data Set 1960-2013 (CPDS) is a collection of political and institu- tional data which have been assembled in the context of the research projects “Die Hand- lungsspielräume des Nationalstaates” and “Critical junctures. An international comparison” directed by Klaus Armingeon and funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. This data set consists of (mostly) annual data for 36 democratic OECD and/or EU-member coun- tries for the period of 1960 to 2013. In all countries, political data were collected only for the democratic periods.1 The data set is suited for cross-national, longitudinal and pooled time- series analyses. The present data set combines and replaces the earlier versions “Comparative Political Data Set I” (data for 23 OECD countries from 1960 onwards) and the “Comparative Political Data Set III” (data for 36 OECD and/or EU member states from 1990 onwards). A variable has been added to identify former CPDS I countries. For additional detailed information on the composition of government in the 36 countries, please consult the “Supplement to the Comparative Political Data Set – Government Com- position 1960-2013”, available on the CPDS website. The Comparative Political Data Set contains some additional demographic, socio- and eco- nomic variables. However, these variables are not the major concern of the project and are thus limited in scope. For more in-depth sources of these data, see the online databases of the OECD, Eurostat or AMECO.
    [Show full text]
  • France Page 1 of 12
    Country Reports on Human Rights Practices in France Page 1 of 12 Facing the Threat Posed by Iranian Regime | Daily Press Briefing | Other News... France Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2005 Released by the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor March 8, 2006 France, with a population of approximately 62.9 million, is a multiparty constitutional democracy. The Union for a Popular Movement is the ruling party and Jacques Chirac is the president. The most recent national elections took place in 2002 and were considered free and fair. The civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces. The government generally respected the human rights of its citizens; however, there were problems in some areas. The following human rights problems were reported: excessive use of force by law enforcement officers overcrowded prisons lengthy pretrial detention protracted trial proceedings anti-Muslim incidents anti-Semitic incidents societal violence against women child abuse and child marriage trafficking in persons discrimination based on ethnic origin RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom From: a. Arbitrary or Unlawful Deprivation of life The government or its agents did not commit any politically motivated killings; however, the Ministry of Defense officially confirmed that French soldiers deployed to the Ivory Coast under UN peacekeeping auspices were to blame for the May 13 suffocation of Ivorian national Firmin Mahe. At year's end a senior warrant officer was in custody for the killing, an army colonel was under investigation by a military tribunal for suspicion of ordering the killing, and two other solders were under investigation for not preventing it.
    [Show full text]
  • European Monetary Union Reform Preferences of French and German Parliamentarians Sebastian Blesse, Pierre C
    Dis cus si on Paper No. 17-059 European Monetary Union Reform Preferences of French and German Parliamentarians Sebastian Blesse, Pierre C. Boyer, Friedrich Heinemann, Eckhard Janeba, and Anasuya Raj Dis cus si on Paper No. 17-059 European Monetary Union Reform Preferences of French and German Parliamentarians Sebastian Blesse, Pierre C. Boyer, Friedrich Heinemann, Eckhard Janeba, and Anasuya Raj Download this ZEW Discussion Paper from our ftp server: http://ftp.zew.de/pub/zew-docs/dp/dp17059.pdf Die Dis cus si on Pape rs die nen einer mög lichst schnel len Ver brei tung von neue ren For schungs arbei ten des ZEW. Die Bei trä ge lie gen in allei ni ger Ver ant wor tung der Auto ren und stel len nicht not wen di ger wei se die Mei nung des ZEW dar. Dis cus si on Papers are inten ded to make results of ZEW research prompt ly avai la ble to other eco no mists in order to encou ra ge dis cus si on and sug gesti ons for revi si ons. The aut hors are sole ly respon si ble for the con tents which do not neces sa ri ly repre sent the opi ni on of the ZEW. European Monetary Union reform preferences of French and German parliamentarians Sebastian Blesse, Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW) Mannheim Pierre C. Boyer, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics (CREST), École Polytechnique Friedrich Heinemann, Zentrum für Europäische Wirtschaftsforschung (ZEW) Mannheim Eckhard Janeba, University of Mannheim Anasuya Raj, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics (CREST), École Polytechnique Accepted for publication in European Union Politics First Version: November 27, 2017 This Version: February 12, 2019 Abstract We analyze data from an author‐conducted survey of members of the French and German parliaments on European Monetary Union reform preferences.
    [Show full text]
  • FRANCE May 2007 COUNTRY Formal Name: French Republic
    Library of Congress – Federal Research Division Country Profile: France, May 2007 COUNTRY PROFILE: FRANCE May 2007 COUNTRY Formal Name: French Republic (République Française). Short Form: France. Term for Citizen(s): Frenchman/Frenchwoman. Adjective: French. Capital: Paris. Major Cities: The country’s capital Paris, the only French city Click to Enlarge Image with more than 1 million inhabitants, has a population of 2,142,800 in the city proper (as of 2004) and 11,330,700 in the metropolitan area (2003 estimate). Greater metropolitan Paris encompasses more than 15 percent of the country’s total population. The second largest city is Marseille, a major Mediterranean seaport, with about 795,600 inhabitants. Other major cities include Lyon, an industrial center in east-central France, with 468,300 inhabitants, and the second largest metropolitan area in France, with 1,665,700 people. Further important cities include: Toulouse, 426,700, a manufacturing and European aviation center in southwestern France; Nice, 339,000, a resort city on the French Riviera; Nantes, 276,200, a seaport and shipbuilding center on the Atlantic coast; Strasbourg, 273,100, the principal French port on the Rhine River and a seat of the European parliament (in addition to Brussels); Montpellier, 244,700, a commercial and manufacturing city in southern France; and Bordeaux, 229,500, a major seaport in southwestern France and the principal exporting center for key French vineyard regions. According to the 1999 decadal census, more than 25 additional French cities had populations surpassing 100,000. Independence: July 14, Bastille Day, is France’s national holiday. Public Holidays: New Year’s Day (January 1); Easter Monday (variable date in March or April); Labor Day (May 1); Ascension Day (Thursday, 40 days after Easter); World War II Victory Day (May 8); Bastille Day (July 14); Assumption (August 15); All Saints’ Day (November 1); Armistice Day (November 11); and Christmas Day (December 25).
    [Show full text]
  • Election by Default, 2002
    Order Code RS21216 Updated June 27, 2002 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web France: Election by Default, 2002 Paul E. Gallis Specialist in European Affairs Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Summary On May 5, 2002, the French people re-elected Jacques Chirac president, and on June 16 gave him a center-right parliamentary majority. The tumultuous two-round presidential elections saw the elimination of Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin in the first round, and left the racist, extreme right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen as Chirac’s opponent in the second round. Chirac won by a wide margin, but many voters, perhaps a majority, were voting against Le Pen. Chirac and Le Pen both ran on a campaign to quell “insecurity,” a euphemism for a rising crime rate. Many observers believe that the main candidates did not address France’s principal problems during the campaign. A New Government On June 16, 2002, French voters elected a National Assembly that gave the center- right a majority. President Jacques Chirac named Jean-Pierre Raffarin prime minister. The parliamentary election and appointment of Raffarin ended five years of cohabitation, in which the president and prime minister were of different parties. Raffarin breaks a long tradition of prime ministers who have made their careers in Paris; he is a native of Poitou, and was president of a regional council. His appointment is in part an effort by Chirac to demonstrate that France will be governed more by a “man of the provinces,” close to the people, than by someone of the political elite that has dominated the Fifth Republic, founded by General Charles de Gaulle in 1958.
    [Show full text]