What are the causes and the consequences of division within the mainstream Right, and to what extent has the creation of the UMP in 2002 created a new unity?

Résumé du document

The French party system has traditionally been very divided. However, the Fifth Republic is the most “efficient” and stable democratic regime France has ever experienced. Despite this, there still appear to be divisions between the mainstream Right. Therefore, to begin with, the causes of the ruptures within the mainstream Right will be examined. This shall be followed with a second part focusing on the consequences of these divisions and finally the extent to which the UMP has put an end to these divisions and has helped to unify the mainstream Right shall be assessed in a third part. René Rémond is one of the most prominent analyst of the Right in France thanks to his study entitled “Les Droites en France” (The Rights in France).The title itself aims to highlight the existence of many Rights each of them independent and possessing its own history and system of thought. His thesis consists of emphasising the continuity behind the apparent changes. He identifies three main strands within the Right: the ‘Ultras', the ‘Bonapartistes' and the ‘Orleanistes'

Extraits

[...] The least one can say is it was necessary as during the previous period (from the 1970s onward) the number of ‘other Right' candidates grew from 414 in 1978 to 945 in 1997. Secondly, the UMP is based on joined parliamentary caucus. It is highly important as the law provides funds to the different parties according to the amount of voters each of them gathered and the number of deputies they have. Crudely put, party merger was made possible by financial centralisation” (Florence Haegel). [...]

[...] However, the incapacity of the mainstream right to unify opens the door to the extreme Right The National Front took advantage of the divisions within the mainstream Right in two ways: on the one hand, they allowed Jean Marie Le Pen to criticise them and on the other hand, they gave his party electoral opportunities. Jean Marie Le Pen's usual motto emphasises the resemblances between the different parties and he alleges that the mainstream Right is divided because of struggles between politicians and not for political reasons. [...]

[...] What are the causes and the consequences of division within the mainstream Right, and to what extent has the creation of the UMP in 2002 created a new unity? The French party system has traditionally been very divided. However, the Fifth Republic is the most “efficient” and stable democratic regime France has ever experienced. Despite this, there still appear to be divisions between the mainstream Right. Therefore, to begin with, the causes of the ruptures within the mainstream Right will be examined. [...]

[...] Moreover, more recent issues keep dividing the mainstream Right The economy is one of the key issues on which the different components of the Right disagree nowadays. The 1980s have been particularly hard for the Right, as it had to face the new wave of liberalism coming from the Anglo-Saxon world, for instance Thatcherism and Reaganism. There is a “liberal Right” in France although it used to focus on individual freedom rather than the economy. This liberal tradition born during the nineteenth century was embodied by Valerie Giscard D'Estaing when he was the French president and since then the UDF and DL (until the latter disappeared) were to some extent liberal parties although the UDF does not consider itself as such. [...]

[...] At the dawn of the Fifth Republic, the mainstream Right was dominated by the Gaullists (believed to be the successors of the “Bonapartistes” by René Rémond) and their domination really underpinned the political debates up until the late 1960s. After De Gaulle stepped down, his successors had to face a growing opposition from other parts of the mainstream Right such as the “Centristes” who even won the presidential elections in 1974. The opposition between the Gaullists and the “Centristes” was central for more than a decade. [...]