French Politics 101?

June 10, 2007 5:05 PM

I'm looking for some good resources - be they blogs or just websites about French politics. I'm lost!

I'm taking a class on Contemporary European Politics this semester and am totally lost when it comes to French politics. I've tried keeping track of the news but I lack the background necessary (Sixth republic? Didn't Sarkozy already win?) to understand what is going on today.

If you keep up with this stuff, what do you read every day or every week? I already read the Economist and the major US papers. Are there any primer websites out there - something like a French Politics 101 site? In particular, the class seems to put a heavy emphasis on the clash between cultures/ethnic groups in France.


Thank you in advance!

posted by tozturk to law & government (4 answers total)

Here's an intensely hostile, negative, and cynical one. It's written in English by American expats living in France.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 7:15 PM on June 10, 2007

Reading about the events of May 1968 should provide some illumination.
posted by rhizome at 10:56 PM on June 10, 2007

Times correspondent Charles Bremner reported daily on the recent elections on his blog. You might want to check out the archives, he has covered a myriad of subjects in the past including politics, the recent riots, etc.
posted by fire&wings at 12:47 AM on June 11, 2007

you're withholding an essential piece of info: do you read French? because reading the (excellent web editions, by the way) French papers online would solve most of your problems.

if you don't, as I'm afraid, simply check out one of the many general histories of France (Cambridge's is excellent), and stick to the chapters that interest you the most (post-WWII years, I assume). search the Financial Times website for stories about France, too -- it's a very good paper. news.google is your friend, too. just make sure your sources are sound. a columnist who usually has interesting stuff is Martin Wolf. I like Martin Walker, too. Foreign Policy is another decent resource.
again, all of the above cannot seriously replace reading Ferench-language sources.

and you'll see by yourself that the blog linked above is most certainly not what you're looking for so i won't elaborate more on that point.
posted by matteo at 9:21 AM on June 11, 2007