Political Issues in French Political Life : Preparing for the 2017 Presidential Election

In 2017, the next French Presidential Election will be held. This election of the President of the French Republic remains the great moment of French political life. French voters make an assessment of the outgoing President and project themselves in the future. The parties act as political machines and all their strategies are oriented by this important political deadline. Finally, the institutions show their capacity to handle new problems and cleavages.
The course will be dedicated to all these questions and will revisit all the previous presidential elections under the Fifth Republic, the evolutions of French voters, the changes in the parties and the adaptation of the political institutions. The course will also compare the American presidential election and the French one.

Required texts:
- Pascal PERRINEAU, Le choix de Marianne. Pourquoi et pour qui votons-nous?/, *ISBN*: 9782213654195
- Pascal PERRINEAU, /La France au Front. Essai sur l’avenir du Front national, ISBN: 9782213681030
- Julie BENETTI, Jean-Jacques CHEVALLIER, Guy CARCASSONNE, Olivier DUHAMEL, Histoire de la Vème République, 1958-1962, ISBN: 9782247120420