The 2012 French Presidential Elections: The Inevitable Alternation [Hardcover]

Was the victory of Fran?ois Hollande, the Socialist challenger to Nicolas Sarkozy, inevitable in the 2012 French Presidential elections? This book argues that a combination of economic downturn, policy choices and personal unpopularity meant that the Right-wing incumbent faced an almost impossible task in holding onto power for another five years.1. Introduction 2. Knowns and unknowns: identifying the critical spaces of the 2012 elections 3. Party cooperation and conflict: actors' competitive positioning 4. Candidate selection processes and effects 5. Issues, policy debates and candidate valence 6. Campaign events 7. Polls and VP-functions: forecasting the elections 8. The legislative elections of June 2012 9. Conclusion

More than a book about elections, Evans and Ivaldi provide here a ranging and insightful analysis of party system dynamics, institutional factors, voting issues and policy debates as they shape electoral competition, and electoral choice, in France today. Through the lens of 2012, the book focuses on the presidential contest and its legislative sequel as critical for understanding wider aspects of the evolving institutional and political culture of the Fifth Republic. A timely and very valuable contribution to French political studies.

James Shields, Professor of French Politics and Modern History, Aston University, UK

This book is a tour de force. The French elections of 2012 in their complexity are analysed here by Professors Evans and Ivaldi, and portray the intricacies of political competition, personal rivalry, public opinion. The social composition of the contending parties are explained concisely in their political and cultural context. The authors have depicted political France so convincingly 'that he who runs may read.

David Bell, Emeritus Professor of French Government and Politics, Department of Politics and International Studies, UK

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