Abstract
This chapter examines the supply and demand sides of populism in France. It looks at the two main populist actors, i.e., the Front National (FN) and La France Insoumise (LFI). The FN exemplifies the typical radical right populist organization, primarily mobilizing grievances over immigration, while LFI shows a left-wing egalitarian and socially inclusive profile. Electoral support for populism in France is fuelled by economic instability and voter distrust of mainstream politics and of the EU. Both LFI and the FN increasingly converge on a common protectionist platform, opposing the EU and globalization. Populist voting in 2017 is found predominantly among the youngest cohorts, and it is strongly correlated with populist attitudes. FN voters are primarily found among the so-called ‘losers of globalization’ in the lower social classes, who are typically more anti-immigrant and more authoritarian. LFI attracts on the other hand a broader coalition of secularized voters in the middle and lower social classes, who are primarily motivated by economic concerns. Both FN and LFI voters are more Eurosceptic than the mainstream, and they share similar concerns about globalization.
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Notes
- 1.
Marine Le Pen, Speech in Brachay, 3 September 2016, http://www.frontnational.com/videos/discours-de-rentree-politique-de-marine-le-pen-a-brachay-2/ (last accessed: 8 April 2017).
- 2.
Marine Le Pen, Speech in Nantes, 26 February 2017, http://www.frontnational.com/videos/discours-de-marine-le-pen-a-nantes-26022017/ (last accessed: 10 April 2017).
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Marine Le Pen, Speech in Lyon, 5 February 2017, http://www.frontnational.com/videos/assises-presidentielles-de-lyon-discours-de-marine-le-pen/ (last accessed: 9 April 2017).
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French National Front expels founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, BBC, 20 August 2015 (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34009901)
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A total of 36.1% favored a blank ballot; 29.1% were in favor of abstaining, while another third (34.8%) would officially endorse Macron.
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The main objective of the 2016 labor reform bill was to loosen France’s strict labor regulations and increase flexibility in the job market.
- 20.
Subnational context and radical right support in Europe (https://www.score.uni-mainz.de). This project is funded by the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) as part of a 3-year Open Research Area (ORA) for the Social Sciences project.
- 21.
The summation scale constructed from the six populism items shows consistency with an alpha of 0.78.
- 22.
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Ivaldi, G. (2019). Populism in France. In: Stockemer, D. (eds) Populism Around the World. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96758-5_3
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