ABSTRACT
In an effort at easing the analysis of discursive performances of French security and defense policy, the Excursus lays out basic social logics and structures of French foreign policy discourse, executive-legislative relations, and party politics. It explains the constitutional dispositions regarding the conduct of foreign policy and the practical arrangements between the dominant president, government, and parliament. It argues that although parliamentary powers in foreign policy are considerably enshrined in France, recent developments and constitutional changes put parliament in a more central position making it worthwhile to investigate parliamentary and executive discourse and the search for legitimacy. In a second part, the Excursus introduces the reader to the main political parties in France, their ideological leanings, coalitions, and adaptations before the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2017, bringing Emmanuel Macron to power.
