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Research on Populism and Political Polarization in France

In recent years, populism has risen rapidly worldwide, especially in many European countries. Populism in France is the most typical example in Europe, which has impacted the existing order of the European Union. From the perspectives of historical origin, domestic structure, external environment, and realistic conflicts, this paper focus on the French populist party National Front (FN) and explores the nature and motivation of populist political polarization based on the theory of supply and demand. The extreme dissatisfaction of societys middle and lower classes is the root cause of populist political polarization. Economic instability and voters distrust of mainstream politics have fueled populism. Populist parties use various tools, including polarized discourses, ideologies, and leaders unique political personalities, to drive voters toward extremes. The refugee issue has driven populism into a fanatical far-right, posing a challenge to Western democracy and the EU order. Finally, this paper discusses the influence and significance of the current populism in French society.

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Electric Utility Privatization What We Can Learn from the British Experience

Privatization takes many forms . The act of privatization, how-ever , alway s involves "se lling st ate -owned assets to th e private sector,or ... allowing private en terpr ise to p erform functions pr eviouslyh andled by the st ate ."* That definition, of course, includes outsourcingof functions, or partn ering arra nge me nt s betw een th e gove rn me nt-owne d ent ity and a priv at e firm.Out sourcing is just a new word for contra cting out . Any well-m ana ged busine ss will en gag e an oth er firm to perform for it functionsthat it cannot p erform well on its own . That is ju st good business.Selling th e enti re gove rn me nt -owne d bu sin ess t o th e priv at e se ctor isth e most dramatic form of pri vatization. Gov ernm ent s wh ose busin essv entur es ar e disa st er s and govern me n ts in a d esp erat e hurr y to r ais emoney do not think about out sourcing. Th ey go all th e way .Th e m ost famous pr iv atiz ation effort, that of th e Thatch er gov-ern me nt, put th e conc ept on th e fr ont pag es. It embra ced priv atizationwith zeal. It pu sh ed out th e priv atization s with th e enormous gu st oa nd ferv or of th e tru e believer. Th e gove rn me nt r ak ed in billions ofp ounds . Millions of new inv estors bought sh ar es in dozen s of compa-nies. Th ose investors clean ed up, in most cas es .Is eve rybody happy ? Unfortunately, they are not. Tru e, theThatcher governm ent showed th at the governm ent could sell th edull est bu sinesses . The newly energized managements d emonstratedhow to r evitaliz e s e emin gly m oribund ent erpr is e s . But theprivatizati ons left a legacy of probl ems . We can le arn from th em .

Populist Strategies in the Political Advertising Discourse of the French National Front

This study investigates the discourse of the French right-wing political party National Front (FN) through a qualitative Critical Discourse Analysis approach examining their electoral campaign material from 2011 until 2017. The findings reveal that the FN adopts typical populist tropes and strategies to broaden its electoral base and win popular support. At the core of their discourse lie binary conceptualisations constructing an in-group (the FN, the people) and an out-group (political individuals and entities, immigrants) in a scheme of opposition, typically attributing positive qualities to the former and negative values to the latter. The linguistic construction of the Self and the Other was achieved through the use of metaphor and speech acts, in addition to other discursive strategies involving the appeal to negative emotions. In accordance with van Dijk’s ideological square, metaphors reveal a sharp polarisation in the depiction of the Self and the Other, mainly through the FN's positive self-presentation in terms of benevolent and optimistic metaphors. In contrast, the Other is mainly portrayed through war metaphors. Similarly, through the use of speech acts, the FN blames, accuses and criticises the Other, holding it accountable for the French people’s grievances, while the Self (in the person of the FN’s leader Marine Le Pen) is assertive, firm and determined in its defence of the nation and the people. Linguistic strategies are ultimately reinforced through semiotic representations, enhancing the us/them dichotomy.

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Next article FreeFront and Back MatterPDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by The American Naturalist Volume 198, Number 2August 2021 Published for The American Society of Naturalists Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/716483 Views: 91 © 2021 The University of Chicago. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

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PDM volume 36 issue 4 Cover and Front matter

PDM volume 36 issue 4 Cover and Front matter

PAR volume 148 issue 10 Cover and Front matter

PAR volume 148 issue 10 Cover and Front matter