FrenchSocialism has suffered from ideological uncertainty for seventy-five years. Although the party has not been a disassociated, irresponsible cult, it has never had sufficient popular support to implement its ideals by democratic action. Now, in the Fifth Republic, such a prospect seems more remote than ever. More than fifty years as a single, organized party has only led to frustration, marked in the last instance by a schism over support of General de Gaulle. Why has this happened?