Contemporary France

This dynamic introduction to contemporary France analyzes the problems and possibilities of democracy in a globalizing world. France was present at the creation of modern democratic politics in the eighteenth century, yet democratic stability has often eluded the country. Now, as established and new democracies everywhere confront the challenges of globalization—cultural diversity, economic change, the erosion of state sovereignty—France's rich and varied experience contains valuable lessons about what works (democratically speaking) and what does not. Anne Sa'adah describes actors, beliefs, institutions, and policies; she also interprets democratic politics in France in general and explores why and with what political consequences so many people in France experience globalization as a harbinger of national decline. The author is especially attentive to the importance of historical legacies, especially of the centralizing logic of the Old Regime, the Revolution and the expansionary dynamic and internal instability it spawned, World War II, and decolonization. Pivotal chapters focus on France's often dysfunctional system of representation, state-society relations, group politics, social policy, and France's role in Europe and the world.