Estrangement
The outcome of the first round of the French presidential elections which brings Jean-Marie Le Pen, the rightist extremist, to the runoff vote was a shock to the rest of Europe. The rise of the far right – with its anti-European character – and the extreme leftist parties, along with the collapse of the French Socialists have thrown Europe’s traditional political groups into confusion. The escalation of the two extremes – the far right and the far left received more than 30 percent of the vote – and the fact that the electorate did not hesitate to select a candidate like Le Pen seem unjustified in the eyes of the traditional parties. But are developments in fact unjustified? They are, perhaps, if one interprets voting behavior as reflecting individuals’ views of a candidate’s ability to follow the most appropriate economic and social policy. It is common knowledge, however, that voters are also influenced by other parameters. Preferences are not shaped by neutral, pragmatic forecasts. The vote is mainly determined by sentimental factors: The overall impression of who failed to meet their pledges is combined with the voters’ broader view of «system behavior.» These determine voter preferences more than any sober evaluations. In the case of France, public sentiment seemed to increasingly weigh against the traditional political parties which people perceived as being distanced from their problems and also as being roughly uniform, meaning that voting for one of the two main parties would not alter the policy line. This explains the public’s disaffection but also their shift toward non-democratic candidates, as there are no other big ideological camps able to create solidarity among the electorate. In other words, the French vote does not reflect a psychological distortion of the electorate but rather the growing estrangement of politicians from the people. The outcome caused serious cracks in the political system that cannot be mended with the re-election of Jacques Chirac or discourse akin to Le Pen’s rhetoric, but with a substantial political overture to the people. Greece has no Le Pen or any such extremist party that can undermine its democracy. But one can sense a widespread mistrust toward the political affinity between the two major parties. The French example has to wake the political parties: Politics cannot be confined to the lounges of the wealthy classes or to the television studios. It has to embrace the people it claims to represent.
