ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses in a general way the nature of the relationship between democracy and elections, followed by some thoughts about the peculiarities of French politics and the rise of 'consensus politics' over the past quarter century. It examines the results of the presidential and parliamentary elections of 2002 and the aspects which seem to indicate widespread disillusionment on the part of electors, namely withdrawal from the electoral process and votes for marginal candidates. The main conclusion one must draw from the elections of 2002 is that the French are at the beginning of the twenty-first century far more disillusioned with formal politics and far more in a mood for protest than was the case a decade or so ago. The chapter argues that in all liberal democracies political institutions and structures allow a degree of participation by ordinary people in deciding between different political agendas.
