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The Communist Party (the PCF)

Until the late 1970s the Communist party was a major force in French politics, despite the fact that it has never had significant representation on the cabinet. It began in 1920 under the direct tutelage of the U.S.S.R., and has continued to be influenced by the Leninist principle of democratic centralism. During most of the Fourth Republic, it was the dominant party on the left, garnering between 19 and 26% of votes in parliamentary elections. True to its Marxian roots, it sees itself as the party of the blue-collar workers, and it is strongest in industrial areas of the North. However, even in its heyday most of its supporters were not true Marxists, and its power has diminished as the Fifth Republic has stabilized. Today the party is reduced to a minor party with generally less than 5% of voters supporting it. Its demise is due party to the general downturns of communism in eastern Europe, the dissipation of the Soviet Union, and the growing strength of its rival, the Socialist Party.

The Socialist Party (the PS)

The solid agricultural base of the French economy and the slow pace of industrialization prevented the Socialist Party from developing a solid base of support during the years after its founding in 1905. The party was transformed in the early 1970s by a new "strong man", Francois Mitterrand. Before taking the leadership of the newly recreated Socialist Party, he had opposed the rightist "strong man" , Charles De Gaulle and his constitution of 1958. In his early days, Mitterrand was clearly anti-capitalist, and he strengthened the party by forming a coalition with the PCF. In 1972 the two parties signed a Common Program of Government that they promised to enact if they won the lections. The program appealed not only to blue collar workers, but to intellectuals who supported socialist principles. As a result, the popularity of the party grew, many socialist deputies were elected to the Naitonal Assembly, and Mitterrand was elected President in 1981 and 1988.

In recent years, the party's popularity slipped along with that of Mitterrand, as the French economy failed to respond to his socialist remedies. The parliamentary elections of 1986 gave control of the National Assembly to the rightist parties, forcing Mitterrand to moderate his policies. He enjoyed enough of a rebound to win reelection in 1988, but only by bringing party policies toward the center. Nevertheless, Socialists suffered dramatic losses in the parliamentary elections of 1993, and were unable to come up with a successful presidential candidate in 1995. Most recently, Socialist presidential candidate Lionel Jospin did not even make the run-off in the 2002 election. This blow to the party was followed two months later by disastrous parliamentary elections that left the party with only 140 of 577 seats in the National Assembly.

If you can read French, check out the official site of the French Socialist Party.