Untitled Document

Some of the main political parties in France are:

PS (Parti Socialiste--Socialist Party) More appropriately called the Social Democratic Party,was reorganized in 1971. Led for many years by Francois Mitterrand, who served as French president from 1981 to 1995. To Americans who are unfamiliar with socialism and it's qualities, this party states on its website (see link above) that their main goals are "la liberté, I'égalité et la dignité des hommes et des femmes, le bien-être, la responsabilité et la solidarité. " This is one of the most powerful parties in France today.

PCF (Parti Communiste Francais--French Communist Party) Stalinist organization in France, led by Robert Hue. Its daily newspaper is L'Humanité. One of this party's main interests is decentralization. (If you don't know what decentralization is, please see the vocabulary page). It may also surprise you to discover the differences between what you know about communism and this party's beliefs.

LCR (Ligue Communiste Revolutionnaire--Revolutionary Communist League) French middle class radical group, led by Alain Krivine, affiliated to the Pabloite United Secretariat. Its weekly newspaper is Rouge. This party describes itself as "100% Gauche". This party's main goal is to abolish the government. To fully understand this party, reading their tracts is a great way to become acquainted with their beliefs. They tend to be targeted to a younger audience and get to the point quickly. You can also watch videos on their website.

LO (Lutte Ouvrière--Workers Struggle) Opportunist radical group, formed from fraction of French Trotskyists who opposed founding of Fourth International. This party supports Marxist ideas and is radically opposed to conformity, materialism, and the church. This is a militant group that is working diligently to get their views heard.

PT (Parti des Travailleurs--Workers Party) Radical organization deeply implanted in the trade union bureaucracy. Formed by a merger of Pierre Lambert's International Communist Party (formerly, PCI). This party aligns itself closely with the other communitst parties, especially the Lutte Ouvrière.

Front National (FN)
Founded in 1972 by Jean-Marie Le Pen, the Front national defines itself as a party of the nationalist and popular right. It gained little electoral support between 1972 and 1982, but since 1983 the FN has increased its electorate. In 1999, wrangles over party leadership led to the creation of a breakaway faction, the Front national-Mouvement national (National Front-National Movement) led by Bruno Mégret. In the last presidential elections in France, Le Pen was nearly elected president even though the Front National represents a fairly small number of voters. The problem was that Front National voters were very active whereas other parties were not. As a result, there were protests of people who were angry at the prospect of Le Pen's chances for election. This party uses controversial posters and tracts to attract attention to it's ideals. This party is strongly opposed to immigration and favors putting French citizens' needs above all else. You can see one of the posters created by the Front National to the right. For others, see the controversies page.

Rassemblement pour la République (RPR) - Rally for the Republic
Also included under the UMP (Union pour un mouvement populaire), the RPR was founded in 1976 by Jacques Chirac. The RPR succeeded the UDR (Union des démocrates pour la République) and claims the legacy of Gaullism, as the latest embodiment of the Rassemblement du Peuple Français (RPF) movement established by General de Gaulle in 1947. This party's motto is "On a plein de choses à réussir ensemble".

Union pour la démocratie française (UDF) - Union for French Democracy
Founded on 1 February 1978 on the initiative of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, the Union pour la démocratie française was a confederation of parties until November 1998, when its national party council decided to make it a unified party. Its components are: Force démocrate, the Parti populaire pour la démocratie française, the Parti radical, and the Pôle républicain, indépendant et libéral, as well as direct supporters of the UDF. The main goals of this party are cooperation among members and non-members, justice, and respect for each citizen. Their motto is "Est-ce juste?"

Les Verts - The Greens
Established in January 1984 at the Unification Congress of the ecological movements - the Parti écologiste (founded in 1982) and Confédération écologiste (founded in 1983) - Les Verts champion ecological values. On the left of the political spectrum, the party promotes a policy of "solidarity, global responsibility and citizenship". Les Verts and the Parti socialiste signed an electoral pact for the 1997 general election in which Les Verts won six National Assembly seats. They joined the government formed by the Prime Minister, Lionel Jospin. They are represented in his present government by a Minister and Minister of State. This party supports ideas similar to the green parties in the United States such as resource conservation and nuclear disarmament.

Rassemblement pour la France (RPF) - Rally for France
Founded in 1999, the RPF is led by Charles Pasqua. On the right of the political spectrum, the RPF claims to be the defender of the exercise of national sovereignty("souverainisme") fighting against globalization and European "federalism". This party aims to free Eurpoe from it's dependance on other areas. Also, this party takes a very "France for France approach".

For more information on the origins and functions of political parties in France themselves, see http://fr.encyclopedia.yahoo.com/articles/ni/ni_1002_p0.html

Some information on this site was taken directly from http://www.wsws.org/public_html/prioriss/iwb3-25/franpp.htm
and from
http://www.france.diplomatie.fr/france/gb/instit/instit09.html