Abstract

This article focuses on the roots and mechanisms of Macron’s success, arguing that in 2017 two conditions were essential in Macron’s rise—the implosion of the established system of the French Fifth Republic in which the two main parties were alternating in power; and the rise of anti-establishment populist challengers on the right and on the left (cf. Stockemer, 2017; Zulianello, 2020). It was anti-establishment appeal that put Macron on the map, but the appeal to technocratic competence that won him the presidency. Technocratic populism transcends the left–right cleavage and, as a result, has a broader appeal than its left- and right-wing counterparts. Emmanuel Macron was an insider taking on the (crumbling) system and positioning himself as an outsider—refusing the traditional labels, including centrism, elite recruitment patterns, and mediated politics. Instead, Macron and <em>La Republique en Marche</em> attempted to create new forms of responsiveness by ‘giving voice to the people,’ while relying on technocratic competence as a legitimation mechanism. In power Emmanuel Macron attempts to balance responsiveness and responsibility (cf. Guasti & Buštíková, 2020).

Highlights

  • Commentators consider the French presidential election in May 2017 as a disruption (Perrineau, 2017) in the long tradition of French politics

  • Using the literature on varieties of populism (Caiani & Graziano, 2016; Zulianello, 2020) and the case of France, we show the vast differences among various populisms present on the French political scene and the long and rich history of populism in France—for instance, the boulangism (1885–1889) or the poujadism in the 1950s (Birnbaum, 2012; Surel, 2019)

  • We argue that the concept of valence populism (Zulianello, 2020, p. 329) is a good starting point to capture Emmanuel Macron and his LREM for two reasons

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Summary

Introduction

Commentators consider the French presidential election in May 2017 as a disruption (Perrineau, 2017) in the long tradition of French politics. Macron cultivated the image of a (moderate) challenger of the old system, the only one able to transcend the stale establishment of French politics and reform France, the only candidate to overcome the old sterile French cleavages This election seemed to fulfil the idea of a successful third way, neither right nor left, breaking the traditional cleavage typical for the last seven decades of French politics. It enabled Macron to form a Government able to enact Macron’s ambitious plan to transform French politics and society Like their leader, the majority of the new parliamentarians were newcomers and had never held elected office before (LREM lost a part of its deputies quite rapidly, and in the spring of 2020, it lost its absolute majority; Momtaz, 2020). In part three and four we explain how and why Macron’s success was possible and to what extent he is a technocratic populist in power, mainly by focusing on the ways he governs

Varieties of Populism and the Technocratic Populism
The Social and Political Frame of Macron’s Technocratic Populism
A Specific Career of a Technocrat
The Rise of a Charismatic Technocrat
Macron as the Only Possible Solution
Technocratic Populist in Power
Responsiveness
Responsibility
Conclusion
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