Author Description

This volume presents a detailed study of the very latest research on French electoral behavior by leaders in voting scholarship. The careful and large-scale survey research on which it is based makes this study highly unusual and distinct from other, related studies. The approach and scientific standards of the study make it comparable to current efforts in the United States and Britain. The French Voter Decides therefore provides, for political scientists trained in the survey research tradition, a familiar lens through which to view French politics. While the methodology employed is American in origin, the authors develop a distinctive model of voting adapted to the special characteristics of the French electorate. Each chapter addresses a separate aspect of the general topic, thus ensuring a comprehensive and cohesive view of electoral behavior. In particular, the contributors refute the widely held notion that somehow things have have changed dramatically in France; rather, they demonstrate the underlying stability of the French electorate. Political scientists specializing in French politics will find much that is valuable and original in this study, while Michael S. Lewis-Beck's introduction - correlating the French approach with more familiar American models - will provide essential background for nonspecialists. Clear and accessibly presented data analyses make this volume ideal for students at the graduate as well as the undergraduate level.