Multiplication & Effects of TV Debates for the 2017 French Presidential Election

• In Event: Misunderstanding and Misinformation In and About French Politics

Abstract

Like the United States and many other democracies, France has had a longstanding tradition of planning a television debate before the Presidential election. It started in 1974, when Valery Giscard d'Estaing managed to unsettle François Mitterrand thanks to a well-prepared set of aggressive questions and soundbites efficiently probing the weaknesses of his opponent. Until 2007, only one debate was held, opposing the two remaining competitors before the final round of voting, usually three days before Election Day. Most of the time, the future winner of the election fared better during the debate, probably because he already knew that his position in the polls was favorable and therefore was much more at ease than his unlucky opponent, too anxious about his difficult position ("French Politics", 2016).

The 2017 French Presidential election marked a considerable change. The formerly regular occurrence of a single televised debate only (with the addition of some, less attended, for the newly organized Socialist Party Primaries in 2007 and 2012), suddenly rose to a count of no less than… eleven! Eight altogether took place on the occasion of the Left and now the Right Primaries, then two before the first round of voting (a first) and finally the usual one before the second round.

This paper will try and assess the consequences of this unheard multiplication of televised debates during the 2017 French Presidential Election: their direct effect in some cases, unlike the previous unclear pattern; the way they unexpectedly helped Emmanuel Macron, an outsider, to win the race; their probable long term follow-ups, since the 2017 upheaval might induce quite a considerable modification of the state of the art of French presidential campaigns.

Ref:
"French Politics", Volume 14, Issue 2, June 2016, special issue on "Presidential Campaign Communication"

Author

• Philippe J. Maarek, University Paris East