Continuity amidst political system change: Why French party organization remains immune to EU adaptive pressures

This chapter analyses French political parties in order to detect evidence of organizational change that has resulted from the increased influence of the European Union.1 The parties considered in this analysis are the Parti Communiste Français (French Communist Party, PCF), Les Verts (the Greens), the Parti Socialiste (Socialist Party, PS), the Union pour la Democratic Française (Union for French Democracy, UDF) and the Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (Union for a Popular Movement, UMP), which incorporates the former Rassemblement pour la République (Rally for the Republic, RPR).2