The Candidates Amateurs and Professionals in French Politics

In 2017, the French political class experienced a small revolution. After decades marked by the ever more pronounced presence of career politicians in positions of power, the country elected a new President with limited experience. And in the aftermath of Emmanuel Macron's victory, an unusual legislature was elected. Rejuvenated, feminised, it was also made up of more than a hundred complete political novices.

In The Candidates, author Étienne Ollion follows an ethnographic journey among these new MPs, while drawing on massive digital data analysed with artificial intelligence methods. The result is a gripping story about their discovery of this peculiar world, which sheds lights on pressing contemporary debates about democratic rejuvenation.

Étienne Ollion is a CNRS Research Director and Professor of Sociology at l'École Polytechnique.