ABSTRACT
In 1976, the movement was reunited with the Centre democrate et progres as the Centre des democrates sociaux. At the Place Jean-Paul II in Lyons in December 1995, in the middle of a rail strike, the Centre des democrates sociaux was buried and the Force democrats was born. Force democrate leaders had decided to reinforce their role as part of the centre-right opposition to the 'plural left' and to build up their position in the Union pour la democratic francaise (UDF). Democratie liberale at that time claimed 33,000 members, it had 41 of the UDF's 109 deputies, and boasted 32 of the 44 senators, while nine of the 22 regions were presided by Democratie liberate and 17 of the 97 departements. Jean Lecanuet allied with Servan-Schreiber's Radical Party for the 1973 elections in opposition to both the left and to the Gaullists.
