ABSTRACT
The business magazine Capital described the election as a ‘bizarre campaign’, characterised, paradoxically, by consensus, bickering and silence, an indication perhaps of a business community somewhat at odds with the world of politics. There was apparently little logical reason for the business community to become impassioned by the campaign. The second reason for the business community’s apparent indifference to the election had to do with the very limited margin of manœuvre for action which any President would have at his disposal. Despite the incessant chorus of change on the part of those who, in the Spring of 1995, emerged as the three leading contenders, the business community did not apparently expect change to occur. There is a very real sense in which Jacques Chirac sought to reach out to the business community and its concerns in a way in which the others did not.
