Historical perspectives on the 2022 electoral cycle in France

Abstract

This series of three essays explores the stakes and outcomes of the 2022 French electoral cycle. Written in real time, they call attention to several emerging trends in French politics, including the collapse of both the traditional political parties and the left-right divide, the dynamics of attraction and repulsion elicited by Macron's personality, the far right's 'arrival' as a mainstream party, and the cascading fractures that divide and weaken the left.