The 2017 French presidential election: towards a new political regime?



The presidential election is the most decisive moment in French political life. It provides an occasion for voters to evaluate the previous presidency and imagine what the future will be like under the new five-year presidency. The 2017 election is no exception to this rule. However, given the current political climate in France and the candidates involved, in many respects this will be a profoundly new election that may well overturn the manner in which the Fifth Republic has traditionally functioned. Many believe it will lead to a veritable regime crisis.

The course will focus on these questions and will place the 2017 election in context by revisiting previous Fifth Republic presidential elections. We will see also how the political parties, political actors, political issues, the political culture and the main cleavages in French society have changed from the end of the 1950s to the present day, thus shedding light on the major shifts that have swept through the French political landscape over recent decades.