The Front National: A “de-demonized“ party? (TruLies Blog by Aurora Bergmaier)
Since the European Parliament elections in 2014, the Front National (FN) could establish itself as the strongest party in every first round of elections and was always able to increase the absolute amount of voters in the run-off. How did it come about that the FN, which has been a part of the French party system for 45 years, could establish such a stable electorate in the last few years and thus be designated as “le premier parti de France” (France’s first party) no longer just by party members but also by other political actors and some of the media?
Aurora Bergmaier is a graduate student of political science at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich and works as an assistant in a DFG-funded research project as well as for a delegate of the Bavarian regional parliament. Previously, she worked for Das Progressive Zentrum.
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/.
Aurora Bergmaier‘s contribution can be found here.
