Parties and the party system in France : a disconnected democracy?

The French elections of 2002 broke all records for fragmentation, abstention and far-Right protest voting, yet returned incumbent President Chirac in triumph and gave him a solid basis of parliamentary support. "Parties and the Party System in France" seeks to explain the paradox of France's contemporary relationship to politics through a comprehensive analysis of French political parties and their interaction during the second half of the 20th century, set against the two contexts of French history and of contemporary theories of parties and party systems.