Expect the unexpected: the 2017 French presidential and parliamentary elections

Abstract

The 2017 French presidential campaign was in many respects very different from all of its predecessors in the Fifth Republic. The same might also be said of the parliamentary contest that followed a few weeks later. Both elections were characterised by two complementary features – le dégagisme and le renouvellement – that together contributed to the sense that in 2017 French politics underwent a radical transformation, including a major shake-up of the party system and a significant renewal of the political class in both the executive and the legislature. In this vein the article analyses key features of both campaigns, selectively using comparator reference points from previous Fifth Republic elections where appropriate. In contrast, in the concluding section on the early weeks of the Emmanuel Macron presidency, the article highlights important elements of continuity with previous presidencies in terms of leadership style and policy initiatives.