It is not representative democracy, always acclaimed, which is at the origin of the crisis that the French political system is going through. For Mathilde Tchounikine, reconciling the French with politics requires a renewal of parties accompanied by a creative spirit and vector of adherence to great ideas.
Since the results of the presidential and legislative elections of 2022, has France entered into a crisis of regime or is it just going through a long political crisis?
This electoral cycle shows us first of all a very present political crisis. Several elements bear witness to this: a constantly rising abstention, the rise in the protest vote, or even the decline of the government parties. For the moment, the institutions continue to function: there is no total impossibility of governing. Moreover, nothing says that another form of diet can do better under similar conditions.
However, a crisis of the regime does not seem impossible, if a dissolution confirms the fragmentation of the Assembly for example, but also in the event of a protest movement which would paralyze the country. It is up to governments to avoid it.
This article is taken from “World Report”2023. This special issue is on sale in kiosks or on the Internet by visiting our boutique website.
Without an absolute majority in favor of President Macron, is democracy in danger because of the rise in power of the protest poles? Or can the fact that the government does not enjoy an absolute majority be interpreted as a renewal of democratic life in Parliament? In other words, in what state is Macronie without an absolute majority in the Assembly?
There is certainly a democratic dimension in the fact that more partisan sensitivities are represented. But this will not lead to a parliamentarization of political life as long as the various groups remain frozen in a posture of systematic opposition. In this fragmented Assembly where the opposition has no majority capacity, the risk is that of a deadlock, hence the use of 49.3 by the government in order to avoid getting bogged down.
“There is no total impossibility of governing. There is nothing to say that another form of diet can do better under similar conditions”
This beginning of term shows a president in difficulty. In addition to not having an absolute majority, President Macron is weakened by the fact of not being able to represent himself. The political class is already turning to an after-Macron. Without trampling on what they have helped to build, those who want to try their luck in 2027 are in need of differentiating themselves, not only among themselves, but also from the president. Apart from the question of succession, it cannot be ruled out that this unprecedented dialectic of “at the same time” will be exhausted, and that voters will turn away from it.
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