Open AccessTowards the 2017 French election
Author(s) -
Marino De Luca
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
qoe-ijes/quaderni dell'osservatorio elettorale
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2724-4679
pISSN - 0392-6753
DOI - 10.36253/qoe-8536
Subject(s) - representativeness heuristic , political science , presidential system , presidential election , electoral system , selection (genetic algorithm) , focus (optics) , primary election , political economy , general election , sociology , politics , law , computer science , democracy , psychology , social psychology , physics , optics , artificial intelligence
Primaries have become an important aspect of the French party system. In recent times, the process, used by different parties, has been opened up to coopérateurs (‘sympathisers'). Both the Socialist Party and the Republicans held primaries in the 2017 presidential elections. This can be seen as an expected step towards addressing problems such as leadership and representativeness. This process is also in line with the personalisation that has become a feature of the Fifth Republic. Following the collapse of the main parties during the last elections, the primary system seems to have entered a period of crisis. This article will hence analyse the introduction of primaries in France, with particular attention to the 2017 presidential election. Our focus is on the similarities and differences between these two open selection processes and their respective effects.