Is there a shift to the right in French society? For his book “La Droitisation française, mythe et réalités”, to be published on September 4, sociologist Vincent Tiberj, a French political scientist specializing in electoral sociology, values and immigration, analyzed dozens of opinion polls. According to him, the results of the last elections show that the conservative values conveyed during the campaigns are out of step with society.
“When we talk about rightward shift, there are different dimensions: the political scene, part of the media scene have moved rightward. But the question is whether there is a rightward shift among citizens.”explains Vincent Tiberius. “The aim of the game for me was to take up all the opinion polls that could have been carried out, by polling institutions or European and French institutions. When you aggregate all these series of questions, on racism, homosexuality, gender issues, the role of the State, the weight of taxes, you realize that it is not that simple.”
“Atmospheric conservatism”
According to the researcher, “France has made considerable progress, particularly on issues of gender and sexual minorities. We are moving from a very heteronormative world, centred on men, and that has changed considerably. It is also tolerance towards diversity, towards multiculturalism”. He believes that a “atmospheric conservatism” exists in France.There were conservative intellectuals and media before. Some of these figures were there in the 80s and are still there today, we just hear a lot more about them. The media world has also changed a lot: with CNEWS viewers, for example, there is a kind of confinement loop.”
“On economic or societal issues, we cannot diagnose a shift to the right. Where there can be debate is on more sovereign issues, insecurity or immigration. On the issue of the death penalty, in recent surveys, we still have one in two French people who remain in favour of the death penalty.”believes Jérôme Fourquet, pollster and political analyst, director of the “Opinion” department of the French Institute of Public Opinion (IFOP).
“The importance of polls”
Vincent Tiberj also emphasizes “the importance of polls” who become “element of political debate”. “On the death penalty, we see that the surveys that take place on the Internet arrive at 50/50 when those that are done by investigators, on the telephone or face-to-face, we see a continual progression of the refusal of the death penalty”he adds.
“The concern is also to ask the question of the representativeness of the elections”he further indicates. “When we look at the vote, the placement on the left or the right, the partisan proximity. We realize that today, elections are won with a minority of voters and citizens. There was a time when abstainers were considered as people who were not integrated, who did not understand. Today, a majority of millennials and post-baby boomers are now intermittent voters. Not because they are not interested in politics, but because the system no longer suits them. Overall, the political system no longer works.”
“We have never been faced with citizens as competent to play their role as today, as long as we allow them to do so”the sociologist also emphasizes. “Citizens’ conventions are a typical example of how when you bring together citizens who start working together, they manage to find things. But on the other hand, we end up with a very top-down exercise of power, sometimes contemptuous of citizens.”
