ABSTRACT
Socialist dominance, or participation, in government in France has had roughly the same programmatic consequences as has social-democratic dominance elsewhere. It is difficult to argue that an essentially descriptive analysis of one political party from its genesis in 1905 to the present can provide a meaningful basis for empirical theories about political parties in general, or socialist parties in particular. Definitions of socialism vary with time and place, and the conditions under which socialist parties have arisen, flourished, and declined are peculiar to the sociopolitical and historical contexts of a country. The comparison of the French Socialist party with other European social-democratic parties may be taken even further. When Socialist parties participate in the government, they have a stake in the success of the democratic political system and in political stability. When these parties are in the opposition, they have a similar stake because they must prove their legitimacy in order to gain power.
