Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The development of the French executive: Endogenous Americanization

  • Review Article
  • Published:
French Politics Aims and scope

Abstract

In the context of current debates about the presidentialization and personalization of politics, this review discusses the Americanization of presidential politics in France. Two specific areas are reviewed: the personalization of French presidential elections and the presidentialization of the executive decision-making process. The discussion focuses on a set of features that are usually associated with the US system, such as the relatively recent adoption of primary elections, the programmatic differences between presidential candidates and their parties, and their increasingly centrist policies. By contextualizing this analysis within the development of the Fifth Republic, we emphasize the endogenous roots of the apparently Americanized practices of the French executive and their full adaptation to the French institutional context.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. In a CBS ‘60 Minutes’ documentary broadcast in October 2007, Sarkozy states ‘I am proud of this nickname’. See www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/10/26/60minutes/main3416097.shtml, accessed 14 October 2010.

  2. http5.europe1.yacast.net/europe1video/PDF/lettre-aux-francais-2012.pdf, accessed 14 October 2010.

  3. abonnes.lemonde.fr/election-presidentielle-2012/article/2012/01/26/francois-hollande-annonce-60-engagements-pour-la-france)_1634584_1471069.html, accessed 14 October 2010.

  4. Décret no 2009-1657 du 24 décembre 2009 relatif au conseil de défense et de sécurité nationale et au secrétariat général de la défense et de la sécurité nationale.

  5. www.iris-france.org/docs/pdf/conseil-securite-national.pdf, accessed 14 October 2010.

  6. See www.govexec.com/pdfs/052609m1a.pdf, accessed 14 October 2010.

References

  • Bouilhaguet, A. (2009) La carpe et le lapin. Paris, France: Editions du Moment.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clift, B. (2007) The Ségolène Royal phenomenon: Political renewal in France? The Political Quarterly 78 (2): 282–291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colombani, J.-M. (2008) Un Américain à Paris. Paris, Feance: Plon.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dolez, B. and Laurent, A. (2007) Une primaire à la française. La désignation de Ségolène Royal par le parti socialiste. Revue française de science politique 57 (2): 133–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elgie, R. (2000) Staffing the summit: France. In: B.G. Peters, R.A.W. Rhodes and V. Wright (eds.) Administering the Summit: Administration of the Core Executive in Developed Countries. London: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 225–244.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, J. (2012) Normalising the French presidency: Explaining François Hollande's victory. Renewal 20 (2/3): 123–129.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hewlett, N. (2012) Voting in the shadow of the crisis. The French presidential and parliamentary elections of 2012. Modern & Contemporary France, doi:10.1080/09639489.2012.721184.

  • Ivaldi, G. (2007) Presidential strategies, models of leadership and the development of parties in a candidate-centred polity: The 2007 UMP and PS presidential nomination campaigns. French Politics 5 (3): 253–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, R. (2012) The media and the 2012 presidential election. Modern & Contemporary France, doi:10.1080/09639489.2012.720054.

  • Laver, M., Benoit, K. and Sauger, N. (2006) Policy competition in the 2002 French legislative and presidential elections. European Journal of Political Research 45 (4): 667–697.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lemennicier, B., Lescieux-Katir, H. and Vuillemey, G. (2011) Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the best Socialist candidate of them all? The left-right location of the candidates in the socialist party primary and the probability of socialist success in the presidential elections of 2012. French Politics 9 (4): 299–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perry, S. (2005) Presidential debates in France: An example of Americanisation? In: E. Godin and T. Chafer (eds.) The French Exception. New York: Berghahn, pp. 139–150.

    Google Scholar 

  • Servan-Schreiber, J.-J. (1967) Le défi américain. Paris, France: Denoël.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vaccari, C. (2008) Surfing to the Elysée: The Internet in the 2007 French elections. French Politics 8 (1): 1–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Law and Government, Dublin City University, Dublin, 9, Ireland

    Cristina Bucur & Robert Elgie

Authors
  1. Cristina Bucur
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Robert Elgie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Robert Elgie.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bucur, C., Elgie, R. The development of the French executive: Endogenous Americanization. Fr Polit 10, 389–402 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1057/fp.2012.21

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/fp.2012.21

Keywords

Search

Navigation