French presidential elections / Michael Lewis-Beck, Richard Nadeau, Éric Bélanger.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lewis-Beck, Michael S.

Contributor:

Nadeau, Richard, 1956-

Bélanger, Éric.

Series:

French politics, society, and culture series

French politics, society, and culture

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Presidents--France--Election.

Presidents.

France.

Physical Description:

xix, 232 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.

Summary:

An original and comprehensive study of the sociological and psychological forces driving individual choices in French Presidential elections. Based on a unique comparative analysis of four French presidential contests over the last two decades, this book presents a rigorous examination of long-term and short-term voter motivations.

Contents:

1 Introduction 1

1.1 French party competition 2

1.2 French electoral institutions and the presidency 5

1.3 Theories of French elections 9

1.4 Our theoretical approach 12

2 Social Structure 15

2.1 An analytical method of explaining vote choice in France 16

2.2 Socio-demographic determinants of vote choice in France 17

2.3 A bivariate analysis of socio-demographic determinants of the presidential vote in France 20

2.4 A multivariate analysis of socio-demographic determinants of the presidential vote in France 31

2.5 Conclusion 38

3 Class and Patrimony 41

3.1 Occupation, economic sector, and the vote 44

3.2 Occupation, economic sector, and the vote: contemporary bivariate results 48

3.3 Income, patrimony, and the vote 53

3.4 A multivariate analysis of the impact of socioeconomic variables on voting: cumulative results 55

3.5 A multivariate analysis of the impact of socioeconomic variables on voting: detailed results 62

3.6 Conclusion 66

4 Left-Right Ideology 68

4.1 The meaning of left-right ideology 69

4.2 Ideological identification vs. party identification 73

4.3 Ideology and the vote: bivariate results 75

4.4 Ideology and the vote: multivariate results 81

4.5 Conclusion 85

5 The Role of Issues 87

5.1 The meaning of issue voting 88

5.2 Economics and the French voter 95

5.3 Economics and the French voter: bivariate relationships 98

5.4 Immigration and the French voter 100

5.5 Immigration and the French voter: bivariate relationships 102

5.6 Economics and immigration: multivariate relationships 104

5.7 Adding Europe to the equation 107

5.8 Conclusion 111

6 Leader Image 113

6.1 Leader image in French electoral studies 114

6.2 Components of leader image 116

6.3 Candidate image in French presidential elections 120

6.4 General and specific evaluations of presidential candidates 125

6.5 The impact of candidate image on French presidential voting 135

6.6 Conclusion 139

7 Campaign Influence 141

7.1 Campaign attentiveness 144

7.2 Time of vote decision 151

7.3 The impact of television 155

7.4 Conclusion 160

8 Conclusion 163

8.1 First round versus second round: the institutional context 164

8.2 Change and continuity in French presidential elections 165

8.3 Is the French electoral system "stalled"? 169

8.4 Short-term vs. long-term factors 170

8.5 Is a theory of French presidential elections possible? 173

8.6 The French voter in perspective 174.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780230300088

0230300081

OCLC:

713185442