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Unit 12: Politics of Representation and Participation

These high and growing levels of abstention, which are such a striking departure from what had Notes
come to be regarded as the norm, are not equally distributed among the electorate. Abstention has
grown faster among voters of the left than among voters of the right, and faster in working-class
constituencies than in more middle-class constituencies. Rising abstention seems linked to a larger
phenomenon of change in the party system. Since the late 1970s, voters’ confidence in all parties
has declined, some of which is expressed through growing abstention rates among voters who
formerly voted for both right and left. The highest” abstention rates in 2002 were among those
voters who expressed no preference between parties of the right and left.
Abstention from voting is one aspect of the major structural change in the French party system.
Even when the abstention level declined to around 30 percent during the electoral cycle of 1992-
1997, it never reverted to the pre-1981 average. Nevertheless, in contrast with the United States,
among the 90 percent of the electorate that is registered to vote, individual abstention appears to be
cyclical and there are almost no permanent abstainers. In this sense, it is possible to see abstention
in an election as a political choice (42 percent of them in 2002 said that they abstained because they
had no confidence in politicians.
As in other countries, age, social class, and education were and remain important factors in
determining the degree of electoral participation, both registration and voting. The least educated,
the lowest income groups, and the youngest and oldest age groups vote less frequently.
Voting in Parliamentary Elections

Since the early days of the Third Republic, France has experimented with a great number of electoral
systems and devices without obtaining more satisfactory results in terms of government coherence.
The stability of the Fifth Republic cannot be attributed to the method of electing National Assembly
deputies, for the system is essentially the same one used during the most troubled years of the
Third Republic. As in the United States, electoral districts (577) are represented by a single deputy
who is selected through two rounds elections. On the first election day, candidates who obtain a
majority of all votes cast are elected to parliament; this is a relatively rare occurrence because of the
abundance of candidates. Candidates who obtain support of less than 12.5 percent of the registered
voters are dropped for the “second round” a week later. Other candidates voluntarily withdraw in
favor of a better-placed candidate close to their party on the political spectrum. For instance, pre-
election agreements between Communists and Socialists (and, more recently, the Greens) usually
lead to the weaker candidate withdrawing after the first round, if both survive. Similar arrangements
often exist between the Rally for the Republic (RPR) and the Union for French Democracy (UDF),
although more recently they have not competed in the same district even on the first round. As a
result, generally three (or at most four) candidates face each other in the second round, in which a
plurality of votes ensures election.
This means that the first round is somewhat similar to American primary elections, except that in the
French case the primary is among candidates of parties allied in coalitions of the left or center-right.
In the end, bipolarity generally results. There is considerable pressure on political parties to develop
electoral alliances, since those that do not are placed at a strong disadvantage in terms of representation.
The National Front is more or less isolated from coalition arrangements with the parties of the
center-right in national elections (though less at the subnational level). Consequently, in 2002, with
electoral support of 11.1 percent, none of the Front candidates was finally elected. In comparison,
the Communist Party benefited from an electoral agreement with the Socialists: With a mere 4.7
percent of the vote, 21 of their candidates were elected. Not surprisingly, the leading party (or
coalition of parties) generally ends up with a considerably larger number of seats than is justified
by its share in the popular vote.
Voting in Referendums

As we have seen, French traditions of representative government frowned on any direct appeals to
the electorate, mainly because the two Napoleons used the referendum to establish or extend their

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