This book assesses the political development of the French presidentialism within a party system. It examines the institutional, political and electoral 'moments' of 2002, which saw both presidential and legislative elections and a major upheaval in the political life of France.

Contents: The 2002 elections in institutional and comparative perspective, John Gaffney; Presidential competition: Prime Minister against President in 'cohabitation', David S. Bell; The presidential and legislative election campaigns of 2002: a strange play in four acts, Alistair Cole; The presidential and legislative elections of 2002: an analysis of the results, Colette Ysmal; The media and the elections, Raymond Kuhn; The television campaigns for the French elections of 2002, Ir Hill; Jacques Chirac's campaign: President in spite of himself?, Steven Griggs; Lionel Jospin's campaign and the Socialist Left: the 'earthquake' and its aftershocks, Ben Clift; Jean-Marie Le Pen and the Front National: crisis and recovery, Catherine Fieschi; The Greens 2002: coming down to earth, Florence Faucher; Rhetorical divergence: real convergence? The economic policy debate in the 2002 French presidential and legislative elections, David Howarth; In search of lost women: alternative political maps in the presidential election of 2002, Hilary Footitt; The effects of gender parity in elections: the French case, Karen Bird; 'Europe' in the 2002 French elections, Helen Drake; Election dynamics, party system change and regime evolution in the 2002 elections, Joseph Szarka; A crisis of democracy?, Nick Hewlett; Chronology of events, January - June 2002, Nathalie Collomb-Robert; Index.