ABSTRACT
This chapter examines three aspects of presidential politics. First, the effects of the Fifth Republican presidency upon the party system; second, what the 1995 campaign reveals about the dynamics of French presidentialism; and third, how analysis of the mythology and symbolism of presidentialism offers an understanding of French political institutions and of the wider political culture. From 1958, French party politics became an institutional confederation of political families competing essentially for the presidency in order to bring stability to the party system. One aspect of a strengthened presidentialism in a strengthened party system has been of major significance: the asymmetry of the parliamentary and presidential cycles. In 1995, contingency played a significant role even given the ‘over determination’ of politics in the mid-1990s by an overwhelmingly strong right. In the 1995 election, following a deep and established trend in all French elections, more people abstained, spoiled their ballot papers, or voted for non-mainstream candidates than ever before.
