The Impact of the Front national and Party System Change in France
Résumé
A lot has happened in France since the book was published. Reflecting on recent changes in French politics, I will examine in this presentation the impact that the electoral success of the Front National has had on the party system and how mainstream actors –predominantly on the right of the political spectrum– have adapted gradually to the challenges by this new competitor in the electoral market. I will consider the contextual variables and changing political opportunity factors which have overseen those strategic interactions between partisan actors in France, and to which extent the FN has continued to exert its impact in the 2017 elections. I will argue that the factors behind the rise and electoral success of Emmanuel Macron's LREM in 2017 were largely exogenous to the role and impact of the FN.