The changing paths of access to the European Parliament for French MEPs (1979–2014)

Willy Beauvallet (1) , Sébastien Michon (2)

1 TRIANGLE - Triangle : action, discours, pensée politique et économique
2 SAGE - Sociétés, Acteurs, Gouvernement en Europe

This paper analyzes transformations in the backgrounds of French Members of the European Parliament and in their paths of access to the EP. This subject makes sense not only in relation to the European political and parliamentary space but also to the French political field. Our contribution is based on a prosopographical survey of all MEPs elected in France since 1979 and on new methods of analysis of the political and social trajectories: sequence analysis and optimal matching analysis. These methods allowed us to place electoral careers and their dynamics at the center of our analysis. The resulting analysis objectivizes the social and political properties of the individuals behind them, as well as the transformations of paths of access to the European political profession between 1979 and 2014.

Mots clés: French politics; paths; political recruitment; MEP; France; sequence analysis; European parliament

Domaines: Science politique

Willy Beauvallet, Sébastien Michon. The changing paths of access to the European Parliament for French MEPs (1979–2014). French Politics, 2016, 14 (3), pp.329-362. ⟨10.1057/s41253-016-0001-x⟩. ⟨halshs-02066523⟩