This engaging exploration of the French Socialist Party details the exceptional problems that the party has faced and the way it has dealt with them. The result is a comprehensive and compelling guide to the quiddities of political infighting, the structure of power and of the environment in which the party operates.

'The French Socialists are the least known and least successful of Europe's major political parties. In none of its three periods of government since the famous victory of 1981 has it secured re-endorsement for a further term. Neither has it enjoyed the programmatic influence of the German Social Democratic Party post Godesberg nor the Third Way programme of the British Labour Party. As a party of expenditure its future looks distinctly fragile given its failure to provide a plausible alternative to the austerity policies of the right. The appointment of business friendly Prime Minister Manuel Valls is an important step but it is too early to say whether it will be successful. In this important book the UK's leading scholars of the French Socialists, David Bell and Byron Criddle, provide an indispensable guide to this most exceptional of parties.'

William E. Paterson OBE, Honorary Professor for German and European Politics, Aston University, UK

Autorentext
David S. Bell is Emeritus Professor of French Government and Politics at the School of Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds, UK. As well as French politics, his primary areas of research include European party politics and political leadership all areas in which he has published extensively.

Byron Criddle is Emeritus Reader in Politics at the University of Aberdeen, UK. He is the author of numerous works on French electoral politics and British parliamentarians.

Inhalt

1. Introduction: Exceptional Socialists 2. The Competitive Context 3. Party Organisation 4. Party Factional identity and Personalities 5. Presidentialism and Primaries 6. Ideology and Policy 7. Challenge from the Minoritarian Left 8. Socialist Politics Post Mitterrand 1988-2002 9. Socialist Party Development after 2002 10. Conclusion