Exceptional Socialists The Case of the French Socialist Party

François Hollande's election to the French Presidency in 2012 was anticipated many years before he triumphed at the polls but the French Socialist Party from which the new President emerged remains much less well-known, an issue that this important and vivid study now addresses.

The exceptional nature of French social democracy is a staple theme of the political literature on France; this book explores in detail the main features of that exceptionalism through in-depth and compelling analyses of the factional intricacies, personal disputes and power structure of the party as well as deconstructing its ideology.

Furthermore, the text also examines how these features have manifested themselves externally by discussing the place of the Socialist Party in the French party system, the primary elections and the social basis of the party and its support. This engaging exploration of French government and party politics over the past 50 years draws on both the authors' close engagement with the French political system over many years and constitutes is important reading for students and scholars of French party politics, political history and government.

David S. Bell is Emeritus Professor of French Government and Politics at the School of Politics and International Studies, University of Leeds, UK. As well as French politics, his primary areas of research include European party politics and political leadership all areas in which he has published extensively.
 
Byron Criddle is Emeritus Reader in Politics at the University of Aberdeen, UK. He is the author of numerous works on French electoral politics and British parliamentarians.

1. Introduction: Exceptional Socialists
2. The Competitive Context
3. Party Organisation
4. Party Factional identity and Personalities
5. Presidentialism and Primaries
6. Ideology and Policy
7. Challenge from the Minoritarian Left
8. Socialist Politics Post Mitterrand 1988-2002
9. Socialist Party Development after 2002
10. Conclusion