Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

When far right parties compete: a case study of Éric Zemmour and Marine Le Pen in the 2022 French presidential election

French Politics volume 21, pages 335–352 (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

In the first wave of the far-right’s influence in party politics between 1980 and 2000, exreme right-wing parties essentially challenged mainstream parties of the moderate left and right. The current wave has seen new far-right parties challenge the more established far-right players, notably in Italy and France, which raises questions about party competition in this segment of the party system. This paper aims to shed some light on these questions by analyzing the competition between Marine Le Pen and Éric Zemmour in the 2022 French elections. Based on a qualitative case study analysis, it identifies areas of convergence and dissimilarity between the two candidates. By scrutinizing the positions, issue salience, and agency of their respective campaigns, the paper shows how far-right parties in the same party system compete with one another, thus contributing to the broader literature on contemporary far-right politics. The concluding section discusses these findings in relation to voters’ concerns in the first round of the 2022 French presidential election.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Notes

  1. https://twitter.com/mlp_officiel/status/1494053773840470016, accessed 8 September 2022.

  2. https://www.lemonde.fr/election-presidentielle-2022/article/2022/03/22/eric-zemmour-franchit-un-pas-de-plus-dans-la-radicalite-en-proposant-un-ministere-de-la-remigration_6118606_6059010.html, accessed 8 September 2022.

  3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=131CcyG4b5U, accessed 8 September 2022.

  4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3TfFVWnNqg, accessed 8 September 2022.

  5. https://twitter.com/mlp_officiel/status/1507423384845664262, accessed 8 September 2022.

  6. https://video.lefigaro.fr/figaro/video/avortement-mariage-pour-tous-eric-zemmour-precise-son-programme/., accessed 8 September 2022.

  7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-KwbkiAlAc, accessed 8 September 2022.

  8. https://www.publicsenat.fr/article/politique/patriotes-contre-mondialistes-marine-le-pen-lance-sa-campagne-a-lyon-54258, accessed 8 September 2022.

  9. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/08/same-old-french-far-right-the-meteoric-rise-of-eric-zemmour, accessed 8 September 2022.

  10. https://www.valeursactuelles.com/politique/eric-zemmour-assume-une-difference-entre-immigration-blanche-chretienne-et-immigration-musulmane, accessed 8 September 2022.

References

  • Akkerman, Tjitske, Sarah De Lange, and Matthijs Rooduijn, eds. 2016. Radical right-wing populist parties in Western Europe. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Art, David. 2011. Inside the radical right: The development of anti-immigrant parties in Western Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bjånesøy, Lise. 2021. Political (In)tolerance of the far-right: the importance of agency. Front Political Sci 3: 655204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Campus, Donatella. 2017. Marine Le Pen’s peopolisation: an asset for leadership image-building? French Politics 15 (2): 147–165.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carter, Elisabeth. 2005. The extreme right in Western Europe: Success or failure? Manchester: Manchester University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Carter, Elisabeth. 2018. Right-wing extremism/radicalism: Reconstructing the concept. Journal of Political Ideologies 23 (2): 157–182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Castelli Gattinara, Pietro. 2020. The study of the far right and its three E’s: Why scholarship must go beyond Eurocentrism, electoralism and externalism. French Politics 18 (3): 314–333.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collier, David, and Colin Elman. 2008. Qualitative and multimethod research: organizations, publications, and reflections on integration. In The Oxford handbook for political methodology, ed. Janet M. Box-Steffensmeier, Henry Brady, and David Collier, 779–795. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crépon, Sylvain, Alexandre Dézé, and Nonna Mayer, eds. 2015. Les faux-semblants du front national. Paris: Presses de Sciences-Po.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Jonge, Leonie. 2021. Is the mass party really over? The case of the Dutch forum for democracy. Politics and Governance 9 (4): 286–295.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Lange Sarah, L., and David Art. 2011. Fortuyn versus wilders: an agency-based approach to radical right party building. West European Politics 34 (6): 1229–1249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duina, Francesco, and Dylan Carson. 2020. Not so right after all? Making sense of the progressive rhetoric of Europe’s far-right parties. International Sociology 35 (1): 3–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eurobarometer. 2022. Standard Eurobarometer 96 - Winter 2021–2022. https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/surveys/detail/2553. Accessed 19 Nov 2022.

  • Farris, Sara R. 2017. In the name of women’s rights: The rise of femonationalism. Durham: Duke University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • IPSOS. 2022. Présidentielle 2022 | Le pouvoir d’achat, enjeu majeur de l’élection, 31 March. https://www.ipsos.com/fr-fr/presidentielle-2022/presidentielle-2022-enquete-thematique-pouvoir-achat. Accessed 19 Nov 2022.

  • Ivaldi, Gilles. 2015. Towards the median economic crisis voter? The new leftist economic agenda of the front national in France. French Politics 13 (4): 346–369.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ivaldi, Gilles. 2016. A new course for the French radical-right? The front national and ‘de-demonization.’ In Radical right-wing populist parties in Western Europe into the mainstream, ed. Tjitske Akkerman, Sarah de Lange, and Matthijs Rooduijn, 231–253. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ivaldi, Gilles. 2018. Contesting the EU in times of crisis: The front national and politics of Euroscepticism in France. Politics 38 (3): 278–294.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ivaldi, Gilles. 2023. The impact of the Russia–Ukraine war on right-wing populism in France. In The impacts of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on right-wing populism in Europe, ed. Gilles Ivaldi and Emilia Zankina, 141–154. Brussels: European Center for Populism Studies (ECPS).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ivaldi, Gilles, and Maria-Elisabetta. Lanzone. 2016. From Jean-Marie to Marine Le Pen: Organizational change and adaptation in the French front national. In Understanding populist party organization: A comparative analysis, ed. Reinhard Heinisch and Oscar Mazzoleni, 131–158. London: Palgrave.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Jacquet-Vaillant, Marion. 2022. Le vote Éric Zemmour : l’avènement électoral d’une autre extrême droite. In Le Vote clivé Les élections présidentielle et législatives d’avril et juin 2022, ed. Pascal Perrineau, 165–179. Grenoble: Presses Universitaires de Grenoble/UGA éditions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jordan, Jason. 2022. The strategic ambiguity of the radical right: A study of the Danish people’s party. Party Politics. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068822113681.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kitschelt, Herbert. 1994. The transformation of European social democracy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Kitschelt, Herbert, and Anthony J. McGann. 1995. The radical right in Western Europe: A comparative analysis. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Pen, Marine. 2022. 22 Mesures pour 2022, Presidential Manifesto.

  • Lebourg, Nicolas. 2021. L’extrême droite est une vision du monde, pas un programme, Le Monde, 31 October, https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2021/10/31/l-extreme-droite-est-une-vision-du-monde-pas-un-programme_6100478_823448.html.

  • Lefevere, Jonas. 2023. Is there clarity in ambiguity? A Literature Review of Party’s Positional Ambiguity. Party Politics. https://doi.org/10.1177/13540688231151906.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Linders, Nik, Stefan Dudink, and Niels Spierings. 2022. Masculinity and sexuality in populist radical right leadership. Politics and Gender. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1743923X22000265.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lorimer, Marta. 2021. What do they talk about when they talk about Europe? Euro-ambivalence in far right ideology. Ethnic and Racial Studies 44 (11): 2016–2033.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marks, Gary. 2007. Special symposium: Comparing measures of party positioning: Expert, manifesto, and survey data, special issue. Electoral Studies 26 (1): 1–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, Nonna. 2018. The radical right in France. In The Oxford handbook of the radical right, ed. J. Rydgren, 433–451. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • McMahon, Richard. 2022. Is Alt-Europe possible? Populist radical right counternarratives of European integration. Journal of Contemporary European Studies 30 (1): 10–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meguid, Bonnie. 2008. Competition between unequals: Strategies and electoral fortunes in Western Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Michel, Elie. 2020. The strategic adaptation of the populist radical right in Western Europe: shifting the party message. In The Oxford handbook of electoral persuasion, ed. Elizabeth Suhay, Bernard Grofman, and Alexander H. Trechsel. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mols, Frank, and Jolanda Jetten. 2020. Understanding support for populist radical right parties: Toward a model that captures both demand-and supply-side factors. Frontiers in Communication 5: 557561. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2020.557561.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mudde, Cas. 2004. The populist zeitgeist. Government and Opposition 39 (4): 541–563.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mudde, Cas. 2007. Populist radical right parties in Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Mudde, Cas. 2022. The far-right threat in the United States: A European perspective. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 699 (1): 101–115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Otjes, Simon, Gilles Ivaldi, Anders Ravik Jupskås, and Oscar Mazzoleni. 2018. It’s not economic interventionism, stupid! reassessing the political economy of radical right-wing populist parties. Swiss Political Science Review 24: 270–290.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perrineau, Pascal, ed. 2017. Le vote disruptif: Les élections présidentielle et législatives de 2017. Paris: Presses de Sciences Po.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perrineau, Pascal, ed. 2022. Le Vote clivé. Les élections présidentielle et législatives d’avril et juin 2022. Grenoble: Presses Universitaires de Grenoble/UGA éditions.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pirro, Andrea L.P.. 2014. Populist radical right parties in Central and Eastern Europe: The different context and issues of the prophets of the patria. Government and Opposition 49 (4): 600–629.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pirro, Andrea LP. 2022. Far right: The significance of an umbrella concept. Nations and Nationalism. https://doi.org/10.1111/nana.12860.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Puleo, Leonardo, and Gianluca Piccolino. 2022. Back to the post-fascist past or landing in the populist radical right? The brothers of Italy between continuity and change. South European Society and Politics. https://doi.org/10.1080/13608746.2022.2126247.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rahat, Gideon. 2022. Party types in the age of personalized politics. Perspectives on Politics. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1537592722000366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roussel, Éric. 2022. De Maurras à Poujade : les messages subliminaux d’Éric Zemmour. Revue des Deux Mondes 2 :124–139.

  • Rovny, Jan. 2013. Where do radical right parties stand? Position blurring in multidimensional competition. European Political Science Review 5 (1): 1–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rydgren, Jens. 2005. Is extreme right-wing populism contagious? Explaining the emergence of a new party family. European Journal of Political Research 44 (3): 413–437.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Šima, Karel. 2021. From identity politics to the identitarian movement. In National stereotyping, identity politics, European crises, ed. Jürgen. Barkhoff and Joep Leerssen, 75–94. Leiden: Brill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stockemer, Daniel. 2015. Introduction to the special issue: Explaining the spike in electoral support for the front national in France. French Politics 13 (4): 319–323.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teinturier, Brice. 2022. Pourquoi Marine Le Pen prend l’avantage à l’extrême droite pour la présidentielle, Le Monde, 28 March.

  • Van de Wardt, Marc, Catherine De Vries, and Sara B. Hobolt. 2014. Exploiting the cracks: Wedge issues in multiparty competition. The Journal of Politics 76 (4): 986–999.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vasilopoulou, Sofia. 2018. Far right parties and Euroscepticism: Patterns of opposition. London: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers/ECPR Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wondreys, Jakub, and Cas Mudde. 2022. Victims of the pandemic? European far-right parties and COVID-19. Nationalities Papers 50 (1): 86–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zemmour, Éric. 2021. Je suis candidat à l’élection présidentielle, YouTube Video.

  • Zemmour, Éric. 2022. Pour que la France reste la France, Presidential Manifesto.

Download references

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Amy Mazur, Michael Lewis-Beck, and two anonymous reviewers for their careful reading of the article and their insightful comments and suggestions.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre de Recherches Politiques de Sciences Po, UMR du CNRS 7048, SciencesPo CEVIPOF, 1, Place Saint Thomas d’Aquin, 75007, Paris, France

    Gilles Ivaldi

Authors
  1. Gilles Ivaldi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gilles Ivaldi.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ivaldi, G. When far right parties compete: a case study of Éric Zemmour and Marine Le Pen in the 2022 French presidential election. Fr Polit 21, 335–352 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41253-023-00219-y

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41253-023-00219-y

Keywords

search

Navigation