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 …
elections
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 …
TIME Interviews French Presidential Front-Runner François Hollande
This is an extended version of TIME’s interview with Socialist Party candidate and Elysée frontrunner François Hollande. A condensed text is published in the international editions of TIME (and
Must-Reads From Around the World: April 13, 2012
North Korea’s Dud – Amid widespread hype and anticipation, North Korea’s missile launch Friday morning came a cropper as the rocket disintegrated shortly after take off. But the bigger failure, Foreign Policy argues, is that of …
How the Extreme Right and Left Will Affect France’s Presidential Race
Money time in France’s current presidential election won’t come before the May 6 run-off between probable mainstream finalists, incumbent conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist François Hollande. For now, though, that …
Politics, Ahoy! Germany’s Pirate Party Scores Another Election Win
Last September, when the German Pirate Party won seats in the Berlin state parliament for the first time, mainstream politicians dismissed their success as a fluke. Sure, they had secured 8.9% of the vote, pushing them well past …
Sarkozy’s Xenophobia: French President Panders to the Extreme-Right
French economic growth is slowing, unemployment is rising, Greece is still a risk to default, and the crisis-rocked euro—while somewhat stabilized of late—is still not out of the existential woods. Yet despite those burning …
Ballot-Box Watch: Your Guide to March Elections
Global Spin previews upcoming polls from around the world
How Sarkozy’s Petulance on a Proposed Law Illustrates a Bigger Political Problem: Himself
The decision Tuesday by France’s constitutional watch-dog striking down a pending law criminalizing the denial of the Armenian genocide by Ottoman Turks produced reactions one might have anticipated: applause from Turkey, …