Amid the rising forces of populism and nationalism, it’s easy to fear a new age of tyranny. But history proves tyrants are often no match against democracy and its defenders.
A Le Pen campaign rally in Villepinte, France on May 1, 2017.
REUTERS/Charles Platiau
Populist parties like France’s Front National typically stress traditional family values. So is it possible for them to appeal to traditional leftist voters like single women and the queer community?
Memorial to early 1990s war in Sarajevo, Bosnia.
Clay Gilliland
Pierre Bréchon, Auteurs historiques The Conversation France
Many French voters seems willing to give the new president and his party, La République en Marche, a broad mandate, even if they didn’t initially support him.
Macron during the first round of parliamentary elections on June 11, 2017.
REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer
Macron’s win showed France is internationalist, outward looking, pro-EU and free market-oriented; Le Pen’s rise revealed that it’s also nationalist, protectionist, anti-EU and suspicious of outsiders.
Being president of France won’t be easy for Emmanuel Macron. Without the support of an established political party, his legislative agenda may go nowhere fast.
France’s new president is just 39-years-old and started his own political movement barely a year ago. So how did he do it?
As a French specificity, blank vote is counted but not recognised, despite a steady increase of its usage in many elections in the country.
Eric Gaillard/Reuters
France’s two presidential candidates diverge markedly on many issues, but nothing is as divisive as France’s relationship with the EU.
In a heated presidential debate, Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron argued over each other like a pair of bickering teenagers as their parents watched on, confused.
Reuters
The French must choose between two visions – one from Macron that looks externally to EU partners in trade and security, or one from Le Pen that closes France’s borders and yearns for a ‘Frexit’.