How France votes

"How France Votes takes as context the presidential election of 1995, which saw the triumph of Gaullist Jacques Chirac, and the legislative elections of 1997, which saw Chirac's political defeat and the emergence of Socialist Lionel Jospin as the prime minister. How did this reversal happen, and why? Examining the campaign issues and party strategies, the enduring sociology of the French electorate, and the consequences of Fifth Republic constitutional rules and institutions, How France Votes assures that readers finding themselves in a Paris cafe might expect to hold their own in a political debate over not only the latest French election, but also the next one to come."--BOOK JACKET.