Exceptional Socialists

The Case of the French Socialist Party

By: David S. Bell, Byron Criddle

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Hardcover | 14 November 2014 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Hardcover
248 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.86 x 15.24 x 1.91

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François Hollande's election to the French Presidency in 2012 was anticipated many years before he triumphed at the polls but the French Socialist Party from which the new President emerged remains much less well-known, an issue that this important and vivid study now addresses.

The exceptional nature of French social democracy is a staple theme of the political literature on France; this book explores in detail the main features of that exceptionalism through in-depth and compelling analyses of the factional intricacies, personal disputes and power structure of the party as well as deconstructing its ideology.

Furthermore, the text also examines how these features have manifested themselves externally by discussing the place of the Socialist Party in the French party system, the primary elections and the social basis of the party and its support. This engaging exploration of French government and party politics over the past 50 years draws on both the authors' close engagement with the French political system over many years and constitutes is important reading for students and scholars of French party politics, political history and government.

Industry Reviews

'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

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