With just four days to go before the run-off in France’s presidential election, incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist front-runner François Hollande squared off in a raw-nerved television debate followed by millions of …
Elections
“For if austerity is allowed to run its course, and Berlin and Brussels continue to starve the beast, Europe could quickly become a hotbed of widespread social unrest.”
Ballot Box Watch: Your Guide to May Elections
Global Spin previews the pick of this month’s exercises in democracy
Siobhan Benita: Is London’s Independent Mayoral Candidate Really Independent?
Siobhan Benita will not be the next mayor of London. The only independent candidate contesting the May 3 election, she’s currently polling at just 3%. That places her light years behind Boris Johnson, the loose-lipped incumbent, …
A Dangerous Game: Why Sarkozy’s Bid for Far-Right Votes May Backfire
The electoral dilemma facing French presidential finalists Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande is as urgent as it is heavy with risk: how to lure the nearly 6.5 million voters who backed extreme-right candidate leader Marine …
Must-Reads From Around the World: April 25, 2012
Why Voters in Europe Want a Change of Tactics in the Euro Crisis
Given the catastrophic mantra rising in media reports and from certain pundits, one contrarian point needs to be made clear: democracy can’t and won’t kill the debt-stricken euro. As Europeans at the ballot box are …
Must-Reads From Around the World: April 24, 2012
China’s Crisis – As the Bo Xilai saga continues, the New York Times reveals that for much of the last decade, while the now-disgraced official was moving up the ranks of the Communist Party, his relatives were using his …
After Historic First-Round Defeat, Sarkozy’s Re-election Hopes Shrink Further
French voters took a step toward historic change on Sunday when they handed Socialist Party candidate François Hollande a victory in the first round of the presidential election with 28.8% of the vote, just edging second-place …
France’s Stringent Election Laws: Lessons for the America’s Free-for-All Campaigns
If, in the course of lampooning America’s few-holds-barred campaign finance system, Stephen Colbert ever found the need for a straight man to highlight U.S. folly, France would be perfect. French campaigns are parsimonious, …
The French Election By the Numbers: Could a Surprise Be Waiting on Sunday?
With just three days to go before April 22 voting in the first round of France’s presidential elections, three things are clear–though they aren’t really consistent.
The first is that while some polls project incumbent …
Must-Reads from Around the World, April 19, 2012
Between Growth and a Hard Place: Tough Choices for France’s Next President–Whoever that May Be
As the French presidential election heads into first round voting April 22, a burning question is being grafted to the issue of “who will win?” French and European observers are now also asking “what will the outcome mean …