FRANCE
Origin and Theories of Political Parties
With modern political institutions dating back to 1789, France is one of the birthplaces of
modern democracy. The current French government runs according to the Constitution of the
Fifth Republic, which was enacted in 1958. France is a republic and a parliamentary democracy
and has a hybrid presidential/parliamentary political system. The head of state is the French
President who appoints the Prime Minister as head of government.
The central French government is the main decision-making body in France and oversees policy
development in areas such as healthcare, education, and public transport. However, there are
three tiers of government below the national government that perform various administrative
and legal functions: 18 regions (régions) including five overseas territories; 96 departments
(départements); and around 35,000 communes.
France is 24th on the 2020 Democracy Index and ranks as having a “flawed democracy”.
The main political parties in France
Political parties in France can be confusing to an expat. This is because there are a plethora of
parties across the spectrum, and they often fragment or mutate into a new party, form alliances
with each other, or sometimes just dissolve. This contrasts with countries such as the UK or the
US where a small number of parties have dominated for years.
Most French parties can be quite easily placed along the old left-right economic scale.
Interestingly, in French politics, the term ‘libéral’ tends to mean only economic (free-market)
liberalism – the opposite of ‘socialisme’ – rather than the social liberalism (civil rights, etc.)
which is often referenced in American and British discourse.
The following is an overview of the current main political parties in France.
La République En Marche!
Meaning “Republic On The Move” in English, this party (often abbreviated to En Marche!) went
from foundation to the most successful party in French elections in less than two years. The
current French President Emmanuel Macron found it in 2016 as a centrist liberal party.
Similar to the Liberal Democrats in the UK, the party stands for economic and social liberalism,
along with pro-Europeanism. However, the party has shifted towards the right since 2017.
In addition to Macron winning the 2017 French presidential election, En Marche! was the
largest party in that year’s parliamentary elections, winning 280 seats. It also holds 23 seats in
the Senate.
The Republicans (Les Républicains)
The former French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, found this mainstream conservative party in
2015. Belonging to the Gaullist political tradition, it rose from the ashes of the Popular Union
Movement (Union pour un Mouvement Populaire – UMP). That itself was founded by another
former president, Jacques Chirac, in 2002. The Republicans/UMP has been one of the major
forces in 21st-century French politics.
The party covers a broad range of conservative ideologies ranging from liberal conservatism to
neoconservatism. It formed a right-wing alliance with four other parties in the 2017
parliamentary elections but failed to win. However, it still holds a majority in the Senate. The
party currently has 104 Assembly seats and 148 Senate seats. Its candidate in the 2017 French
presidential election, François Fillon, came third in the first round of voting with 20%. The
current leader is Christian Jacob.
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Democratic Movement (Mouvement démocrate – MoDem)
MoDem was set up in 2007 by François Bayrou, who still leads the party. It is a successor to the
Union for French Democracy (Union pour la démocratie française – UDF) and broadly follows
the third-way ideology of social and economic liberalism as well as being a strong pro-Europe
party.
The party’s similarities to En Marche! saw it join an alliance with Macron’s party in the 2017
parliamentary elections as well as support his successful presidential campaign that year. It
currently has 46 seats in the Assembly and 5 seats in the Senate.
Socialist Party (Parti socialiste)
The Socialist Party is the main party on the left in France, although its support has declined in
recent years. Founded in 1969 from an alliance of parties and organizations on the non-
communist left, it has produced two French presidents – François Mitterrand (1981-86 and 1988-
93) and François Hollande (2012-17).
Similar to mainstream left-wing parties elsewhere in Europe, the cornerstones of Socialist Party
policy have been social democracy, Keynesian economics, and a strong welfare state. However,
it has moved away from traditionally socialist policies over the years; for instance, it has
allowed some privatization of the economy to take place.
The party had poor electoral campaigns in 2017. Its presidential candidate, Benoit Hamon,
came fifth and it lost most of its seats in the legislative elections. It currently has 25 Assembly
seats and 73 Senate seats. The current leader is Oliver Faure.
Union of Democrats and Independents (Union des démocrates et indépendants – UDI)
Formed in 2012, the UDI is a liberal party. However, it is more classically liberal than En
Marche! or MoDem.
This places it more on the right-wing of the political spectrum and closer to conservative French
parties. The party supported the Republican Party’s presidential candidate in the 2017 elections
and allied itself with right-wing parties in parliamentary elections. It currently has 18 seats in
the Assembly and 42 seats in the Senate. Jean-Christophe Lagarde is the current party leader.
La France Insoumise
Founded in 2016, La France Insoumice – which translates as “Rebellious France” – is another
new party in French politics. It pursues a radical democratic socialist platform that combines left-
wing populism with eco-socialism. The party was founded by former Left Party co-president
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who came 4th in the 2017 French presidential race with 19.5%. It won 17
Assembly seats in the parliamentary elections that year.
It is part of the Eurosceptic left. Policies put forward by La France Insoumise include moving to
a new Sixth Republic, exiting EU and NATO treaties, shutting down nuclear plants, and
improving the rights and wages of workers.
French Communist Party (Parti communiste français – PCF)
Founded in 1920, the PCF was the major political force on the French left until the 1970s.
However, nowadays it is less popular. The party is also less radical than some communist parties
elsewhere in Europe. For example, it has participated in French governments in the past (1981-
84 and 1997-2002). The party has 12 Assembly seats and 14 in Senate. It supported the
Mélenchon 2017 presidential campaign, and Fabien Roussel is the current party leader.
However, one of the key goals of the party remains the eventual overthrow of capitalism along
communist lines. It has also modernized its positions on several social issues in recent years and
now supports LGBT rights, gender equality, and migrant rights. The PCF wants to replace the
EU with a new communist-influenced European model.
National Rally (Rassemblement national)
The National Rally was founded as the National Front (Front National) in 1972 by Jean-Marie
Le Pen. It is now led by his daughter Marine, who rebranded the party in 2018. The party is the
most prominent far-right party in France and one of the most well-known and long-standing in
Europe. French nationalism is the platform for the party which campaigns on anti-immigration
(particularly from Islamic countries) and a zero- tolerance approach to law and order.
The National Rally is also a Eurosceptic party, although it has moderated its stance. It now calls
for EU reform rather than withdrawal as well as keeping the Euro and staying in the Schengen
Area. Although Marine Le Pen was runner-up in the 2017 presidential election – and is on
course to repeat this in 2022 – the party has been less successful in parliamentary elections. It
currently holds 6 Assembly seats and one Senate seat.
Left Party (Parti de Gauche)
The Left Party (Parti de Gauche, PG) is a French democratic socialist political party,[2]
founded in 2009 by Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marc Dolez after their departure from the Socialist
Party (PS). The PG brings together personalities and groups from different political traditions,
and claims a socialist, ecologist and republican orientation.
Politically located between the Socialist Party and the French Communist Party, the Left Party
intends to federate all the sensitivities of the anti-liberal left—which they also calls "the other
left"—within the same alliance. In 2008, the PG joined forces with the Communist Party of the
United Left and six other left-wing and far-left organizations in the coalition of the Left Front, of
which Jean-Luc Mélenchon was the candidate for the presidential election..
Europe Ecology – The Greens (Europe Écologie Les Verts)
This party was formed in 2010 from a merger between The Greens and Europe Ecology. Similar
to many other green movements, the party combines green environmental policies with social
democratic economics, pro-Europeanism, social justice, and support for direct democracy. Its
policies include phasing out nuclear energy and increasing income taxes.
The Greens have been more oriented towards local government in elections, holding positions
on city councils and in the European Parliament. The party also has 7 seats in the Senate. Julian
Bayou is the current leader.
