Front National as a Political Party - Literature review Example

Front National as a Political Party According to Grabow and Hofmeister p.11), a political party can be defined as a special type of social organization. To back their claim, Grabow and Hofmeister argue that the best definition of political parties is that of Anthony Downs, an American political scientist, who said that “A political party is a team of men seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election” (Grabow and Hofmeister 2011, p.11). The definition by Anthony Downs touches on two main points that are participation in elections and gaining public offices, as well as mandates. Thus, one can claim that political parties are characterized by the two points. In relation to above assertion, the French political parties are identified by their political opinion and general political impact, minimum number of their members, demonstration of consistency in taking part in political representation of the people at the times of elections, independence, and willingness to appear in public. Despite these common identification features, it is apparent that Front National varies from other French political parties. In relation to this, the paper aims at providing detailed information on what distinguishes the Front National as a political party. The paper will also expound on how the Front National (FN) has changed under the leadership of Marine Le Pen. Front National was founded in 1972 by the former president Jean-Marie Le Pen, who was its ideological leader. The party started by garnering 0.75% of the national vote in the first round of its first presidential election in 1974. Currently, the party under the leadership of Marine Le Pen has established itself as one of the extreme-right parties. FN has an ostensible monopoly that distinguishes from other parties. It is the only party that addresses contentious national issues such as those associated with immigration like asylum, naturalization and the rights for family rejoining. Unlike other parties, FN is also more concerned with the marriage of immigrants as well as the issuance of tourist visas (Mayer & Sineau 2002, p.6). Just like other extreme-right political parties in Europe, FN is socially conservative and nationalist. In addition to being eurosceptic and sovereignist, FN is an economic protectionist as well as anti-immigrant. However, it is the only party that is known for advocating a “zero tolerance” on issues pertaining to law and order (Mayer & Sineau 2002, p.7). NF is also distinguished by its party structure and networks. After the 1988 presidential election, NF consolidated its electoral gains via turning its former activist group into a well-structured organization of approximately 50,000 members. This method led to the party picking its candidates from within the party school and not through recruitments. Unlike other parties, the use of this method led FN’s candidates portraying a high level of professionalism (Aldrich 2013, p.47). In addition to this, FN has a network of circles that extend the party’s influence. For instance, it is apparent that the oldest network of FN is the youth group referred to as the Front National de la Jeunesse which is active in not only high schools, but also specific universities. In addition to working close with social movements, FN also promotes its own unions that consist of police, prison guards, and bus, as well as subway workers. In addition to this, FN is one of the parties in French political system that puts a lot of effort towards helping the unemployed. Unlike other parties, FN had the lowest support from the women. This is evidenced by what took place in the elections of 1984 and 1997. The election results of those issues showed that NF had a significant deficit of female voters. As it was introduced above, the main reason for the low turnout of FN female voters was as a result of its authoritarian paternalism. In addition to this, it is apparent that FN had few women because of it being associated with verbal brutality. Currently, however, FN is distinguished as a political party by the high number of female candidates it presents during elections. In relation to this, it is apparent that popularism of the party is as a result of the women contribution at the grass-root. In relation to this, it is apparent that NF is “the only party that presents the “maternal” profile of its candidates” (Aldrich 2013, p.58). Scholars like Matt Golder argue that FN is a legitimate political party. The scholars categorize it “as a populist extreme-right party” (Mayer & Sineau 2002, p.9). According to Golder, FN is differentiated from other parties of the mainstream right because of its popularism. The popularism makes FN an advocate of direct democracy. In other words, FN is distinguished as a party by its claim to legitimacy on the ground that it speaks for the people. In other words, FN represents the democratic sovereign and not a sectional interest like an economic class. Unlike other parties, FN receives its political support mainly from the lower-working as well as middle-class people. Another factor that distinguishes FN as a political party is the way it perceives itself. According to (Davies 1999, p.3), FN regards itself as an ostracized political grouping that is excluded from corridors of power by not only the French political establishment, but also ‘the brand of four’. FN use the phrase ‘the brand of four’ to assert that the four political parties, Rassemblement pour la Republique, Union pour la Democratie Francais, and Parti Socialiste, in French politics are corrupt (Mayer & Sineau 2002, 4). In other words, FN considers itself as an outsider as much as the French political system is concerned. The philosophy of FN also varies significantly from that of other parties in the French political system. In support of this claim, it is apparent that the nationalist standpoint of FN is significantly different from the Socialists’ ‘cosmopolitan’ perspective. In addition to this, it is evident that FN is the only political party in the French political system that promotes polemical policies. Its figureheads are also associated with making provocative statements (Mayer & Sineau 2002, p.7). FN has a unique political organization. According to (Johansson 2014, p.15) was brought into formation as a highly centralized machine characterized by a strong pyramid-like organization. The power of the party was held at the top, and its ideology leader Le Pen dominated its internal life. In relation to this, the internal democracy of the party was considered imperfect. The party is also highly centralized. In connection with this, it is evident that the leadership of FN is personalized (Johansson 2014, p.24). The leadership of the FN started with its founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, who later wanted to pass it to his wife during elections. It was as a result of the personalization of the party that the FN divided into two parties. Despite this, it is apparent that FN is currently under the leadership of Marine Le Pen, a daughter to Marie Le Pen. The organizational changes of the party in the 1980s also contributed to the extensive empowerment of its leader Le Pen. From this, it is apparent that FN is distinguished by the concentrated power of its leader (Johansson 2014, p.50). With the leadership of Marine Le Pen, FN has changed significantly. This is evidenced by the number of votes it has been garnering compared with the time under his father’s leadership. For instance, it is evident that Marine has done away with dictatorial leadership that was practiced by her father. In support of this claim, it is apparent that she arrived third in the presidential race that was held in 2012 with 17.9 percent of the total votes because she could be spoken to. The success of FN under Marine is also attributed to her elimination of the anti-Semitic currents from the party. For instance, she excluded Yvan Benedetti from the party in 2012 a thing that was associated with his father’s legacy (Betz 2013, p.2). The spirit of populism in the FN party was also enhanced by the leadership of Marine Le Pen. In relation to this, the main objective of Marine Le Pen was to polish up the image of the party and transform it into a legitimate catch-all party of protest (Betz 2013, p.2). FN under the leadership of Jean-Marie Le Pen was the most recent portrayal as well as an articulation of an intransigent party that was united in the rejection of the public. In contrast to his father, Marine Le Pen promoted FN as a Republican party. Additionally, the avoidance of the hyperbolic and aggressive language of the anti-Islamic discourse by FN, when compared with other parties, is as a result of the contribution of Marine Le Pan. In relation to this, it is apparent that Marine Le Pan reformed the party from using aggressive language making it one of the best Republican parties in the French political system (Betz 2013, p.10). In conclusion, FN which was founded in 1972 by the former president Jean-Marie Le Pen has many factors that distinguish it as a party. Apart from having an ostensible monopoly, FN is the only party that addresses contentious national issues such as those associated with immigration like asylum, naturalization and the rights for family rejoining. It is also the only party that is known for advocating a “zero tolerance” on issues pertaining to law and order. FN has structured organization of approximately 50,000 members from whom it picks its candidates. It also has a network of circles that extend the party’s influence. FN also had the lowest support from the women as evidenced in the elections of 1984 and 1997. In addition, FN is the only party that uses the phrase ‘the brand of four’ in talking about corruption. Despite all these, Marine Le Pen has contributed significantly to the success of FN. She eliminated the anti-Semitic currents from the party. The spirit of populism in the FN party was also enhanced by her leadership. Additionally, it is Marine Le Pen that promoted FN as a Republican party. The avoidance of the hyperbolic and aggressive language of the anti-Islamic discourse by FN, when compared with other parties, is as a result of the contribution of Marine Le Pan. List of References Aldrich, J. 2013. Economic Voting and the National Front: Towards a Subregional Understanding of the Extreme-Right Vote in France. http://www.politics.as.nyu.edu/docs/IO/5628/Aldrich_2013.pdf Betz, H. 2013. The New Front National: Still a Master Case? Online Working Paper. http://www.recode.info/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Final-RECODE-30-Hans-Georg-Betz_Final_fin.pdf Davies, P. 1999. The National Front in France: Ideology, Discourse and Power. New York: Routledge. Grabow, K. & Hofmeister, W. 2011. Political Parties: Functions and Organizations in Democratic Societies. http://www.kas.de/wf/doc/kas_7671-1442-2-30.pdf?120920114650 Johansson, K 2014. How Populist Parties Organize. http://www.sh.se/p3/ext/res.nsf/vRes/inst_f_samhallsvetenskaper_1386849475351_peso_research_report_no_2_pdf/$File/peso_research_report_no_2.pdf Mayer, N. & Sineau, M. 2002. France: The Front National. http://www.elections2002.sciences-po.fr/Enjeux/pdf/FN%20-%20VD%202001.pdf Read More