Prawybory we francuskich partiach politycznych jako mechanizm wyłaniania kandydatów do prezydentury na przykładzie Republikanów i Partii Socjalistycznej

Abstract

PRIMARY ELECTIONS IN FRENCH POLITICAL PARTIES AS A MECHANISM FOR SELECTING CANDIDATES FOR THE PRESIDENCY ON THE EXAMPLE OF THE REPUBLICANS AND THE SOCIALIST PARTY

The article deals with the primary election as a procedure for nominating presidential candidates by major French political parties. Initially, closed primaries were held by left-wing formations. The Socialist Party started using this mechanism in 1995. The first open primaries to nominate a socialist candidate took place in 2011 (these were the so-called citizens’ primaries – primaire citoyenne). The neogaullist party, which has been called the Republicans since 2015, followed left-wing formations organizing primaries itself. The formation started with closed primaries. The first open ones were held in 2016. The author points out that prior to the 2022 presidential election, both parties returned to the concept of closed primaries. The latter formula may be defined a ballot in which only members of a given formation can participate, and not all citizens who declare their support for a concrete political option. It is argued that primaries, especially the open ones, have not proven to be a procedure that significantly increases the chances of a candidate nominated in this way. Instead, it may contribute to deepening intra-party divisions, which could potentially cause the political formation itself to be doomed to marginalization in the parliamentary election following its presidential candidate’s failure. This leads to the conclusion that the emergence of primaries in France should be seen against the back-ground of another important phenomenon, which is the far-reaching and well-established presidentialization of the French system of government.