Populist movements have been on the rise across Europe and the Americas. In France, the far right-wing party, Le Front National, has experienced recent growth in electoral success. Scholars of the Front National have in part attributed the party’s success to its increased use of populist rhetoric. This thesis examines the populist rhetoric used between the Front National’s past president Jean-Marie Le Pen and current president Marine Le Pen in order to test these scholarly claims. Based on their campaign speeches for the 2002, 2007, 2012, and 2017 French presidential elections, I conducted a quantitative dictionary-based analysis on the difference in use of populist, xenophobic, and economic rhetoric between Jean-Marie Le Pen and Marine Le Pen. My results show that there has been only a relatively small increase in the use of populist rhetoric between the two leaders. Consequently, I argue that the perceived increased use of populist rhetoric in the Front National has more to do with the saliency of populism than numerical fact.

The topic of this thesis is political extremism in France, mainly focused on Front National. In the first part, there is defined term extremism, described its typology and its connection to the political system - political parties and its form at present. The content of the next part is to map historical developments of right-wing extremism in France, roots and its tradition. This thesis is mainly focused on development of Front National - since the formation to the present. The aim of this thesis is to map political extremism in France, mainly The Front National, comparison of the political party's development in the different stages. The focus is put on the comparison of its policy agenda and electors especially in connection to the change of leaders of the Front national during its existence (from Jean-Marie Le Pen to Marine Le Pen). Specialised literature in Czech and French and authentic documents were used for the preparation of this thesis. KEYWORDS extremism, right-wing extremism, political parties, Front National, Jean-Marie Le Pen, Marine Le Pen

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-10T17:55:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Guilherme_Ignacio_Franco_de_Andrade.pdf: 4135958 bytes, checksum: 89f5602c2f4c120e3c86f95d59fb72a9 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-02-09 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Ce travail résulte d'une étude sur le processus de transformation du Front National, parti politique français, à partir de la retraite politique de Jean-Marie Le Pen et de la montée de Marine Le Pen à la présidence du parti. Au cours de cette recherche, nous avons identifié le processus de naissance des mouvements d'extrême droite en France, dont le commencement se situe au XIXie siècle avec le groupe monarchiste Action Française et, en parallèle, le mouvement dirigé par le Général Georges Boulanger. Le développement du fascisme en France a eu lieu pendant l'occupation allemande durant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, avec la mise en place de la Révolution Nationale, par le Maréchal Pétain. Nous avons examiné comment s'est développé le projet fasciste en France, qui a pris près de trois décennies pour devenir, par l'intermédiaire d'une légende politique, le Front National. Les différents groupes présentés dans le cadre de notre recherche nous ont fournis des preuves suffisantes pour considérer le projet fasciste français comme un mouvement articulé par des membres de la petite bourgeoisie et de la classe moyenne, en alliance avec le propre mouvement fasciste comme cela a été démontré par d'autres chercheurs. Dans ce travail, l'objectif principal a été d'étudier la transition politique du Front National et les changements de son programme, dirigé par Marine Le Pen et soutenue par les militants les plus jeunes du parti. Pour comprendre la période actuelle dans laquelle se trouve le Front National, nous avons étudié le processus de construction du parti et les différents programmes politiques qui ont été créés tout au long de son existence. Ainsi, nous avons pu analyser comparativement les différents projets dans leurs conditions historiques concrètes, qui se sont succédés dans un parti qui, durant 40 ans, présente des positions extrêmement antagonistes par rapport aux autres partis ou mouvements fascistes. Le nouveau Front National, au centre de ce travail, se révèle être un parti qui, au cours de son activité politique, est toujours soucieux de représenter une alternative au capitalisme et au socialisme même s'il n'a jamais proposé de rupture avec les relations capitalistes ou mettre fin à la lutte des classes. Le Front National, en ce qui concerne son histoire, a toujours priviligié les intérêts de la petite bourgeoisie, de la classe moyenne et des professions libérales. Ainsi le parti a, par le passé, défendu l' ultralibéralisme, les privatisations et a défendu le néolibéralisme en France, posture qui a désormais changé comme nous l'avons identifié. En analysant le Front National, nous concluons que, dans le discours, le Front National est devenu plus sensible aux problèmes sociaux et a essayé de s'approcher des travailleurs. Le parti a retravaillé tout son discours pour masquer son projet ségrégationniste et totalitaire mais, idéologiquement, le parti n'a jamais abandonné ses convictions nazi-fascistes gardant aussi ses idées xénophobes et racistes / Investigamos, nessa dissertação, o processo de transformação do partido francês, Frente Nacional, a partir da aposentadoria política de Jean-Marie Le Pen e a ascensão de Marine Le Pen à presidência do partido. Durante a pesquisa, procuramos evidenciar o processo de nascimento dos movimentos de extrema direita na França, tendo seu início no século XIX, com o grupo monarquista Ação Francesa e, paralelamente, pelo movimento liderado pelo General Georges Boulanger. O avanço e concretização do fascismo na França se deu durante a ocupação alemã, na Segunda Guerra Mundial, com a instauração da Revolução Nacional, pelo Marechal Pétain. Em nossa pesquisa, pudemos investigar como se deu o desenvolvimento do projeto fascista na França, que durou quase três décadas para se concretizar e se unificar através de uma legenda política, a Frente Nacional. Os diversos grupos apresentados no percurso de nossa pesquisa nos dão evidências suficientes para acreditar no projeto fascista francês enquanto movimento articulado por parcelas da pequena burguesia e da classe média, assim como foi demonstrado por outros pesquisadores entre esses grupos específicos e o movimento fascista. Em nossa dissertação, o objetivo principal foi investigar a transição política do partido Frente Nacional e as mudanças em seu programa político, liderado por Marine Le Pen e apoiada pelos militantes mais jovens do partido. Para entendermos o período atual em que se encontra o Frente Nacional, investigamos o processo de construção do partido e os diferentes programas políticos que foram criados ao longo de sua existência. Dessa forma, conseguimos analisar, comparativamente, os diferentes projetos inseridos em suas condições concretas e históricas, visto que o partido, ao longo dos seus 40 anos, apresenta posições extremamente antagônicas em relação a outros partidos ou movimentos fascistas. A nova Frente Nacional, conforme elaboramos como tema de análise principal, nos demonstra que o partido, durante sua atividade política, sempre se preocupou em ser uma alternativa ao capitalismo e ao socialismo, ainda que nunca tenha proposto romper com as relações capitalistas ou acabar com a luta de classes. A Frente Nacional, teve sempre como questão principal a defesa dos interesses dos pequenos burgueses, da classe média e dos profissionais liberais, ainda que nessa trajetória tenha defendido o ultraliberalismo, as privatizações e se inserido na defesa do avanço neoliberal na França, postura modificada na atualidade, como vimos em nossa pesquisa. Ao analisar a Frente Nacional, chegamos à conclusão de que, no nível discursivo, se tornou mais sensível aos problemas sociais e tentou se aproximar dos trabalhadores, reelaborando todo seu discurso para mascarar seu projeto segregacionista, totalitário e de branqueamento populacional mas, ideologicamente, o partido nunca abandonou suas convicções nazifascistas, mantendo suas ideias xenófobas e racistas

Diploma thesis Transformation of the National Front under the leadership of M. Le Pen discusses the influence of the new chairwoman on political party. Thesis deals with the far-right National Front in context of both political and partial systems of the Fifth republic in the background of historical development of far-right parties. Work aims to uphold the hypothesis that in the life of political parties play an important role its leader, who influences the transformation of the political party and to map the current activities of M. Le Pen, who replaced her father, J.-M. Le Pen, after nearly four decades at the leader post. Replacing the leader represented a significant step in history of party as it was for a long time strongly personified with the person of J.-M. Le Pen, who managed to lead the party, despite its internal diversity. New chairwoman, who, unlike her father has no emphasis on the memories of the past, which was the World War II, the Vichy Regime and French Algeria, tries to modernize the party for a new generation of voters. With the entry of M. Le Pen at the head of the National Front there were tendencies to interpret the change of leader as a beginning of the new era of the new type of political party what was supported by the rhetoric of the new President. The work is...

Diplomarb.--Universität Hamburg, 1994. / Bibliogr. p. 167-178.

Diss.--Philosophische Fakultät--Christian-Albrecht-Universität zu Kiel, 1999. / Bibliogr. p. 279-309.

This paper analyzes the evolution of the Front national (FN), a French political party on the far right, from its initial breakthrough victory in 1984 all the way through to its unprecedented showing in France’s 2017 presidential election. The most obvious change it explores is that of leadership, seeking to determine in what ways the ‘original’ FN controlled by its founder Jean-Marie Le Pen (1972-2011) differs from the party’s ‘new’ incarnation under his daughter Marine Le Pen (2011-present). It begins by examining the makeup and motivations of the party’s electorate in the 1984 elections to the European Parliament, and by identifying the FN’s ideological predecessors more broadly. With a focus on the turning-point presidential elections of 2002, 2007, and 2012, the paper then follows the development of the party’s rhetoric, strategy, and supporters since the 1980s, as well as how it is perceived by the wider public. Throughout, attention is paid to unique factors that have impacted the FN’s trajectory, such as the gender difference between Jean-Marie and Marine, former President Nicolas Sarkozy’s courting of right-wing voters, and the influence of terrorism. It concludes by noting the hidden ‘victories’ that the FN has achieved, and with a warning never to underestimate the party, even when it seems to have suffered a loss.

The increasing popularity of populist parties in Europe, demonstrated in particular by their electoral success, is attracting increasing attention from the academic community. Although the phenomenon of populism is nothing new and has already been reviewed from a number of different perspectives, it still represents a diverse field for deeper analysis. The thesis deals with the case of the French National Front and its changes during its most successful election campaigns, that is in the presidential elections in 2002 and 2017. Specifically, the thesis also focuses on political communication and especially on the change it has gone through at its management level. By comparing the performance of both leaders and their agenda, the work allows a closer insight into the problem of transforming the ideological base as well as the ways of political communication. The outcome of this work is the analysis comparing the election campaign of Jean-Marie Le Pen and his daughter Marine, the current party leader. The work also contributes to the debate around dédiabolisation, or the de-demonization of the National Front launched under the leadership of Marine Le Pen.

The purpose of this study is to examine if the existing theories within the field of Euroscepticism is sufficient to help us reach a deeper understanding of the changes in party positions and the publics opinion towards the EU and European integration in France between 2016 and 2018. To reach a deeper understanding of the case and the existing theories two research questions have been designed. One that seeks to examine on how we can understand the changes in voter opinion towards the EU. The other one seeks to examine how we can understand how the parties En Marche! and Front National has acted from 2016 to 2018. The method used in this study is a theory-consuming case study. Five theories where generated from the existing body of literature where crucial elements from seven different articles where derived to build a theoretical framework that examines different aspects of the voter vs. party dynamic. Most of the theories where applicable to the case at some point within the examined timeframe and helped us reach a deeper understanding of the case. Although one of the theories stood out and helped us reach a deeper understanding of the case during the entire period. That was the theory regarding that the French publics opinion about the EU seems to have been affected by a wider information-environment more than anything else. Although further research focused on that theory would be necessary to substantiate the findings in this thesis.

Les dernières élections présidentielles françaises montrent bien la saillance du populisme en France alors que 40 % de la population offre son appui aux deux partis de cette mouvance. Toutefois, le populisme en France, vu à travers les discours, reste un champ d’études sous étudié. Par conséquent, ce mémoire étudiera en quoi les discours populistes varient en fonction de l’orientation politique. Plus précisément, il explore d'une manière comparative le discours de deux politiciens populistes français : Marine Le Pen et Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Ce sont 38 discours non institutionnels et 53 discours institutionnels qui seront étudiés grâce au cadre théorique de Raoul Girardet. Ce dernier met de l'avant la présence de quatre mythes populistes dans les discours des politiciens français : le mythe de la conspiration, le mythe de l'âge d’or, le mythe du sauveur et le mythe de l'unité. Par la suite, une deuxième comparaison, cette fois entre les deux types de discours, sera aussi effectuée. Plusieurs résultats peuvent être tirés de cette étude. Il semble, en effet, que Le Pen et Mélenchon ne fassent pas une utilisation complètement similaire des quatre mythes dans leurs discours. Alors que le mythe de la conspiration et celui de l'unité sont utilisés de manière semblable par les deux politiciens, celui de l'âge d'or ne l'est qu'en partie. Le dernier mythe, celui du sauveur, est utilisé de façon comparable pour les sauveurs contemporains, mais non comparable pour ceux du passé. De plus, les discours de Mélenchon restent relativement stables en fonction du lieu, alors que ceux de Le Pen varient beaucoup plus. / The last French presidential elections clearly show the salience of populism in France, while 40% of the population offers its support to the two parties of this allegiance. However, populism in France, seen through speeches, remains an under-studied field. Therefore, this dissertation will analyze how populist discourses vary depending on political orientation. More precisely, it explores, in a comparative manner, the discourse of two French populist politicians: Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon. 38 non-institutional discourses and 53 institutional discourses will be studied with the help of the theoretical framework of Raoul Girardet. The latter highlights the presence of four populist myths in the speeches of French politicians: the myth of the conspiracy, the myth of the golden age, the myth of the savior, and the myth of unity. Subsequently, a second comparison— this time between the two types of speeches—will also be made. Several results can be drawn from this study. It seems that Le Pen and Mélenchon do not make a completely similar use of the four myths in their speeches. While the myths of conspiracy and of unity are expressed in a similar way by both politicians, the golden age myth is only partially demonstrated. The last myth (the myth of the savior) is used comparably in both politician’s speeches for contemporary saviors, but not for those of the past. In addition, Mélenchon's speeches remain relatively stable depending on the location, while Le Pen's vary considerably more.