Examining the French electoral system (presidential and parliamentary elections)

Subject Areas :

Alireza Salavati ¹ , Hojatallah darvishpur ² , Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani ³ , masoud motallebi ⁴

1 - PhD Student in Political Science, Faculty of Political Science, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
2 - Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Political Science, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
3 - Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Political Science, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
4 - Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Faculty of Political Science, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Received: 2022-11-21 Accepted : 2023-11-12 Published : 2023-08-23

Keywords: France, elections, Relative Majority, absolute Majority, Dentte Formula,

Abstract :

Elections and popular vote have a very special place in the political structure of France and the French have always viewed elections with special sensitivity. Therefore, the current study aims to investigate the electoral system of the French Republic. The main question of this research is on what basis was the French electoral system formed? The thesis of this research is that the French electoral system is a two-stage electoral system with an "absolute majority" in the first election and a "relative majority" in the second election. This means that both in the presidential election and the national assembly election, the candidates must receive at least half of the votes, otherwise the election will be moved to the second stage in which the first two candidates in the presidential election and in the National Assembly, the candidates who get at least 12.5% ​​of the votes will go to the second stage of the election. In the second stage, which is based on simple majority, the candidates who get the most votes win the election. The main complication of the French elections is in allocating seats to the winning parties in the National Assembly elections. The seats are divided between the winning parties based on a special formula. The more vote recieved by the parties and campaigns, the more seats are to be taken by them.