Frankreich am Scheideweg? Ein Präsidentschaftswahlkampf zwischen Unvorhersehbarkeit und Europakritik (TruLies Blog by Carmen Gerstenmeyer)
On 23 April 2017, eleven presidential candidates presented themselves for election to 47 million eligible French voters. The results carry a great importance for both France and the whole of Europe. At the run-off on 7 May, for the first time in the history of the Fifth Republic, no candidate of the two biggest parties will be represented. The candidates in the run-off on entering the Elysée palace are those who had previously been thought to have the best prospects: Marine Le Pen, party head of the right-wing extremist and anti-European Front National (FN), and Emmanuel Macron, progressive-liberal highflier, former economics minister and founder of the non-partisan movement En Marche! (Forward!). For the FN, which up until now could reach only the run-off once as an outsider in 2002, this year’s election could be the culmination of a continued upwards trend since 2011.
Carmen Gerstenmeyer studied European Affairs and Political Science at Sciences Po Paris and Freie Universität Berlin and contributed as a student assistant to the research project „TruLies – The Truth about Lies on Europe“ at the Institut für Europäische Politik e.V.
The project “TruLies – The Truth about Lies on Europe”, aided by the Stiftung Mercator and run by the Institute for European Politics (IEP) in cooperation with Das Progressive Zentrum, has two principal objectives. On the one hand, it strives to deconstruct Eurosceptic and populist prejudices, animosities, and false assertions, by means of social scientifically-grounded analysis. Thus, it aims to contribute to a rationalisation of the public discourse and debate in Germany (and beyond). On the other hand, “TruLies Europe” endeavours to publicly communicate its findings beyond the select circle of scholars to political actors, civil society, and the wider public. You may find further information on our website: http://trulies-europe.de/.
Carmen Gerstenmeyer‘s contribution can be found here.