Final class session to discuss election results

Our final class session, which will be optional for students, to discuss Sunday's election results (and your final written work) will be Tuesday May 8 at our usual time in our usual classroom.

Participation high but so are blank ballots

Les chiffres du second tour de la présidentielle

Le Monde report on exit poll data

Profils : qui a voté pour François Hollande ou pour Nicolas Sarkozy ?

Hollande projected winner

Official estimates, based on early returns, project Hollande elected president of the republic, 52% -48%, over incumbent president Sarkozy, with an estimated 80% turnout.

Le Pen voters in broad context

Arun Kapil, an American-born political scientist who researches French politics from France, has posted one of the broadest, and most interesting, analyses I've read of the sizeable number of voters who supported Marine Le Pen, last Sunday -- especially of those who are not active members of the National Front and who had not voted for that party's candidate in past elections.

He develops a number of points about the demographic changes, cultural and media changes, and changes in housing patterns and human geography that have been the basis of much research into the FN over the past 20 years.

Those who read French might also want to consult this analysis by French blogger Bernard Girard, who notes that Marine Le Pen's greatest support came from towns that do not have a local high school. He refers in the post to the work of French political scientist Nonna Meyer, whose publications including several in English, are listed here. Meyer has theorized that the most salient social characteristic of National Front voters is neither their social origins nor their economic status but their lack of a high school diploma.

(Update: Another French-language article that develops an aspect of Girard's thesis in a different direction, this article in Le Monde argues that support for the National Front has grown in rural areas precisely in response to the loss of public services in rural areas.)

Those interested in this topic might be interested to read Francoise Gaspard's A Small City in France about the victory of the National Front in 1995 municipal elections in the historically left-leaning city of Dreux, written by the loser of that mayoral election; as well as the broader study of the FN party itself (circa 1998) Politics on the Fringe by the political scientist Edward De Clair; and most recently published, a study of the history of the "radical right" in France as a response to "modernization", The Resurgence of the Radical Right in France by the political scientist, Gabrielle Goodliffe.

Presidential debate on line (maybe not)

The debate is scheduled to begin at noon PDT and may be visible here or here.

However, just minutes ago Le Monde posted a statement that it had been informed by the two privately owned television networks jointly producing the telecast asserting their ownership of the broadcast and rebroadcast rights -- and stating that any digital transmission or re-transmission would be forbidden.

Sarkozy compared to Petain

Two left-leaning French papers this week ran covers comparing Sarkozy to Petain, implying a threat to the Republic.

Hollande voter outreach efforts (bis)

An earlier post referred to an article on the Hollande campaign's voter outreach efforts but neglected to include the link; here is the article.

A follow-up article on French socialists going door-to-door, which is actually a lot less strange than it sounds.

Hollande in his zone: more social media from the 2012 campaign

Not an official "spot" but a widely circulated campaign video by the Hollande campaign, reaching out to younger voters in the banlieux

National Front voters consider the second round

Interesting set of interviews in France24 with 5 very different men (no women) from an economically depressed former mining town who voted for Marine Le Pen in the first round and now consider their options. Note in particular the diversity of economic and political backgrounds

Great moments in French presidential debates

Throughout the Ve Republic, there has been a tradition of the two finalists in a presidential election confronting each other in a televised debate. These are, compared to American presidential debates, very unstructured, allowing the candidates to address each other directly, interrupt each other and, on occasion, score one-liners that have become well known moments that defined the candidates and the election. The National Audio-visual Institute of France (ina.fr) has posted video of the entire debates and highlights of some of the great moments in French presidential debate history.

Third writing assignment

The third and final writing assignment is due Tuesday May 8 by noon, either by email (attachment) or in hard copy to my office (WRI B 317), in lieu of an in-class final.

This assignment is either

1. a revision of one or both of your earlier essays

2. a new essay of five to seven pages on the 2012 election campaign -- that can be on any candidate, party or issue -- that allows you to demonstrate the presence of either the Jacobin or the Bonapartist/Gaullist conception of the state in the current French political landscape.

3. an essay of five to seven pages on either of the documents we studied concerning the 2007 campaign. You may write on the film The conquest or the Badiot book, The True Meaning of Sarkozy, and address whether or not you find these documents (either or both) to be more about the personal attributes of Nicholas Sarkozy as a man, of the attributes of the directly elected presidency as an institution, or of the Republic as a democratic form of government?

Note that class will not meet on Thursday April 27, to allow you time to work on your third assignment. 

Final first round results

Hollande 28.63 %, Sarkozy 27.18 %, Le Pen 17.9 %, Mélenchon 11,11 %, Bayrou 9.13%

Hollande campaign effort to mobilize less-likely voters in left-leaning precincts

Research in 2010 suggests French voters born abroad (as well as those who have moved from provinces to Paris) are less likely to vote. Door-knocking campaign is seeking to get them to vote.

Looking Ahead to Sunday

Thanks to Art Goldhammer for an excellent presentation to our class and a very well-received Forum lecture Tuesday evening. Here is Art's comment on what to watch for in Sunday's first-round voting. 
French Politics: Looking Ahead to Sunday.

Ordinarily projections of the results will be published upon the closing of the polls at 8pm Paris time (11am Las Vegas time); however, some news outlets may publish exit poll returns a few hours earlier, so if you are interested in getting the first results you should look about 9:30am). 

As we were discussing in class, appearances by presidential candidates in social media is not regulated by the CSA

Watch "Prends le pouvoir sur moi Jean-Luc Melenchon" on YouTube

Arthur Goldhammer visit April 17

HIST 362 will be graced next Tuesday with a visit by a leading scholar on French politics, Arthur Goldhammer of Harvard's Center for European Studies. He will speak with us about his chapter on French political parties, which is assigned reading and available from electronic reserve here (sign-in required).

After class on that day, he has agreed to meet informally with students interested in discussing further his work, the state of the election campaign and related topics. If you are interested in joining this informal conversation, please let me know via email before next Tuesday's class.

Tuesday evening, at 7:30pm, he will deliver a public lecture in the College of Liberal Arts Forum Lecture series, on the role of political parties in this year's campaign. All HIST 362 students are encouraged to attend and those who do and write a one-page summary as part of next week's reading log will receive extra credit towards their discussion grade.

Collection of French Presidential election campaign posters, 1965-2012

Affiches électorales : la bataille de l'image (1965-2012) | VivelaPub | Rue89 Les blogs

English-language Poli Sci analysis of French election

A new blog, 500 Signatures, written in English by two French academic political scientists, has begun publishing lengthy articles on the race. This source seems likely to provide some of the more interesting analysis of the polling data. 

No Class Thursday March 22 (alternate assignment)

We will not meet as a class on Thursday March 22. As an alternate assignment, please read during class time (or for 90 minutes at some other time next week) the book by Alain Badiou, The Meaning of Sarkozy and/or watch the film "The Conquest" (viewable on DVD in Lied Library Media Reserve (1st floor).

Study questions will be posted on Piazza We will discuss this book and view parts of the film in class the following week.)

You may also use the additional time to work on your essays on De Gaulle's conception of the state which are due on Thursday March 29.

French campaign suspended

The campaign has been suspended for a few days in response to the tragedies of shootings in Toulouse, first of three off-duty soldiers and then this morning of a school teacher, his two young sons and a student at a Jewish school also in Toulouse.

Germany is electing a president, too

This essay on the next President of the German Repblic notes that the office is elected by the lower house of the legislature plus representatives of the 16 German states and the office is primarily rhetorical, "the conscience of the nation."

NYTimes: Can Joachim Gauck Make Germany Likable? http://nyti.ms/ymKATj

What is the role of a president in a representative democracy

This question is a central one for our course, with its focus to this point being on competing conceptions of the state in the French republics up to and (starting next week including) the 5th Republic.

Here is a very interesting article on the American presidency, influenced by recent work in Political Science, that asks the question in a slightly different way -- instead of asking as we have if the president should be a proponent of policies that express  the will of the "Nation" or if the president should express the "reasons of state" and fulfill the need for continuity and order outside the legislative process, this article asks if the president should be a rhetorical leader who tries to guide the country, and its elected representatives in the legislature, to a certain consensus that can be expressed in legislation or whether the president should be a broker of interests within the legislature which would otherwise never come to consensus. It also introduces a concept we will discuss extensively in the next few weeks, the role of parties in a presidential system (or, conversely, the role of the president in a political system dominated by parties).

Its worth reading and considering although outside our direct topic and thus not a required reading for HIST 362.

2nd essay topic (due March 29)

The second essay topic is available here (PDF);  the essay is due by email or in class on March 29.

Some humor for those who read French.

Some humor for those in the class who read French.

French campaign finance laws

Summarized in English (thanks to Art Goldhammer)

Summary of presidential election campaign to date

Sarkozy struggling to turn French election tide - FRENCH ELECTIONS 2012 - FRANCE 24

Data on Jewish voting and opinions on Sarkozy

French political sociologists have much less data to work with than American counterparts because of.legal and cultural inhibitions on collecting data by "ethnic" or "racial" origins. But this blog post summarizes findings of a survey of French Jews on their voting preferences in 2002 and 2007 and their views. Sarkozy since 2007.

Le vote juif

Hollande promises an "impartial presidency"

Francois Hollande have a speech promising an " Impartial Presidency" which Art Goldhammer explains to be a distinction from Sarkozy's "partisan presidency." How do these concepts correspond to the concepts of the "jacobin state" and the "bonapartist state" we have been discussing in class?

TV and radio coverage of French Presidential candidates subject to "equal time" rules

This article described the rules governing tv and radio.coveerage of French presidential candidates, which require proportional air time for all candidates.

As French Candidates Speak, the Meter Is Running

Class will not meet Thursday March 1

We will not meet as a class on Thursday March 1, but please use this time for the following assignment: read Charles de Gaulle's "speech at Bayeux" (1946) from the "CDG3" document in the e-packet and read this article on the current status of the French presidential election.

If you have not submitted your essay on Absolutism, please do as an attachment to an email.

We will meet at our normal time next Tuesday March 6.

The logistics and politics of candidate qualifications for the French Presidential election

Paris-based American political scientist explains ballot access and the tactics of a multi-candidate, non-partisan election.

"Radio France International" English-language coverage of French Presidential campaign

Another English-language source covering the French presidential campaign

President Sarkozy announces his re-election camaign

For those who have been consulting the media sites to follow the presidential election, to which we will be turning in the next few weeks, here is an English-language news report of the official announcement by the incumbent President, Nicholas Sarkozy, that he is running for another 5-year term.

And here is coverage from the American press.

First essay topic

HIST 362
First  essay topic

Write a five to seven page essay that makes use of both primary and secondary sources in support of a  clearly stated thesis in response to the following question:

What specific functions were the central actions of the state under Louis XIV?  Who was chiefly responsible for carrying out those functions and what was the source of the sovereignty (or political power) of those who carried out those functions?

To answer this question, you should refer to the readings from Collins, The State in Early Modern France and from William Beik, Louis XIV and Absolutism (including the primary source documents).

Your essay should include all the appropriate elements of a scholarly essay including title, clear introduction of the question and statement of thesis, body paragraphs that argue in support of the thesis by use of evidence to illustrate and support , proper citation of directly quoted material, endnotes or footnotes (Chicago style preferred but not mandatory) to reference sources of information, and a conclusion that explains what has been demonstrated in the essay. Essays should be double-spaced and carefully edited for clarity, diction, spelling, punctuation, sentenced structure and precision.
Any use of outside sources should be based upon sources that are of demonstrated reliability and authority, and which are directly relevant to the topic at hand.

Your essay us due in class on Tuesday February 28.

Analysis of 2002 (to be discussed later this semester)

This analysis of the first round of the 2002 election raised several different points about French presidential elections which differ significantly.from webcam elections: ballot access, party structure, campaign format, issues, polling and media.

Image of the king during the French Revolution

Tuesday we will continue to discuss the history of executive power in France by considering both the image put forth by the absolutist monarchy (notably Louis XIV) and how that image was challenged and new conceptions of executive power put forth during the French Revolution of 1789-1799.

For those interested in seeing how the French of this period viewed their monarch, consider the various images available online here from a web-based, multi-media resource guide on the French Revolution entitled "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" published by the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.

Absolutism: The Image of the King "in his own words"

In his letter to his son the Dauphin (same term for "dolphin" but referring to a region in southern France and the term actually refers to the crown-prince, akin to the Prince of Wales in the UK), Louis XIV (in "LOIUSXIV8") describes "in his own words" how he the king ought to be seen in relation to the people. Based on this text and our discussion, plus the other readings on absolutism, how would you characterize Louis XIV's idea of his own power?

Does Louis XIV seem to see the power of the state as an expression of the will or interest of the people and how so?

Nuclear power in contemporary France

The Nuclear Power Issue is one that has been very salient in American politics, especially in Nevada. This article gives an interesting overview of the local impact of France's controversial but largely successful turn to nuclear power for a majority of its domestic electrical power generation.

Absolutism study question

As you read the Collins chapter on the French state in the 17th century under King Louis XIV and especially in the "king's own words" found in chapter 8 of the Neil volume (LOUISXIV8), what characteristics of executive power can you identify ?

Week of Jan 31

This week we will continue our discussion from Thursday which was a definition of key terms; we discussed "president," "executive power," "state" and "republic." Tomorrow we will discuss "election", "parties" and "left, right and center."

We will also begin our discussion of absolutism as a form of executive power, so please read the assigned chapters from Collins and from Beik in the e-reserve packet.

We will discuss as well the Piazza discussion tool and the reading response logs.

Is everyone clear then on where we stand on the syllabus and how we will proceed? Are there additional questions about course procedures?

Tuesday Jan 24 class meets in Lied Library Rhyolite Room

Reminder that tomorrow (Tues Jan 24) we will meet in the Rhyolite Room of Lied Library for a presentation on how to search for and use online and library resources for our course, by the Library's specialist for both History and French, Priscilla Finley.

Please come at our normal class time, 10am, to the Rhyolite Room on the first floor of Lied Library rather than our usual CBC C 216 classroom. We will meet for the entire 75 minutes in the Library. To find the Rhyolite room, once you enter the main Library entrance turn right and pass in front of the circulation desk, then after the display case turn right again into the hallway of classrooms. The Rhyolite Room is at the end of the hall on the left.

If possible, please consult the list of resources that Priscilla Finley has compiled for us by following the link to "Library Resources for HIST 362" in the "Course Links" section to the right.

Note that we will not discuss the articles listed for tomorrow until Thursday, so please plan your reading accordingly.

If you have any questions, please feel free to write me here. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow in the Rhyolite Room of Lied Library.

Leading opposition candidate Francois Hollande kicks off campaign

Francois Hollande, the candidate of the opposition Socialist Party, and front-runner in most public opinion polls, kicked off his official campaign with a lengthy speech (1 hour, 15 minutes) to a large crowd (15,000 people); the speech is described here with a short video news report here.

Art Goldhammer has a more thorough assessment -- and finds it to have been a rather "lackluster and predictable." (Goldhammer, who has a specialists' knowledge of policy questions especially on economic policy, has long been critical of most leading Socialist Party candidates for a lack of clarity, especially on how to address the monetary and economic crisis in Europe.)

English-language on-line resources for following the 2012 French presidential election

Students should follow the election weekly through the following sites. Some articles or news programs will be required reading/viewing, and will be identified as such in class and on the course blog

1. "French Politics" blog: Observation and commentary by Art Goldhammer (Center for European Studies, Harvard), a leading American scholar and commentator on French culture, economy and politics (updated daily)

2. EuroNews coverage of French Presidential Election:  Online articles and video coverage of French presidential election by a French-based, English-language news organization (updated daily)

3. "France 24" is an English-language 24-hour cable news channel and website of news coverage about France. With sponsorship from the French government but editorially independent.

3a. Campaign Chronicles  a weekly television news program that broadcasts each week on Friday afternoon (Paris time, early Friday morning Las Vegas time) offering a round-up of weekly news on the campaign.

3b. France 2012 a weekly television program broadcast Thursday afternoon (Paris time, early Thurs morning Las Vegas time) with weekly news on the major campaign developments.

3c. Politics, a weekly political interview show broadcast Thursday afternoon (Paris time, early Thurs morning Las Vegas time).

3d. "Presidential Pate"  "the greasiest and most savoury mouthfuls from French democracy's grand banquet." by France24 journalists.

3d. "Vue d'ailleurs"  Weekly blog offering "analysis of contemporary French issues" by a British scholar

4. “Arun with a View”. Personal blog in English by American-educated, French-based academic political scientist.

5. "Opinion polling for the French presidential election, 2012" Wikipedia site (all usual caveats apply) compiling publicly released horserace polls on the election

Course Syllabus and reserve readings for HIST 362

Course syllabus for HIST 362 available here <http://faculty.unlv.edu/gbrown/hist362/2012syllabus.pdf>.

Online course readings are available via Library electronic reserve are available here (requires Library card barcode and PIN for log-in). Students may also download the entire electronic reserve reading packet as a single .zip file  from this page.

French Politics: English-language Coverage of French Elections

French Politics: English-language Coverage of French Elections: From Greg Brown at UNLV, this list of Web coverage of the elections in English, compiled with Rebecca Bolen for a course he is teaching: ...