Doctrinaires and syndicalists: Representation, parties and democracy in France1

Abstract

This article seeks to explore debates in France concerning representation and the place of political parties within the democratic process. It does so firstly by exploring the anti-party logic that derives from what Pierre Rosanvallon has characterised as a political culture of ‘generality’. However, in order further to explore the character of antiparty sentiment in France, the article focuses upon two bodies of thought associated with the doctrinaires during the periods of the Restoration and July Monarchy and the French syndicalist movement at the turn of the 20th century, both of which placed themselves outside this political culture. Both displayed a deep distrust of universal suffrage and of the political process, and a preference for the claims of capacity over those of number. The article concludes by assessing the validity or otherwise of these criticisms of the role of political parties within democracy.