European Tribune - Comments - French Regional Elections

French Regional Elections | 63 comments (63 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

Re: French Regional Elections (none / 0)

Is the electoral system proportional or first past the post?

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman

by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Sun Mar 14th, 2010 at 03:44:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: French Regional Elections (none / 0)

FPTP, with run-offs.

The brainless should not be in banking -- Willem Buiter

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Mar 14th, 2010 at 04:00:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: French Regional Elections (none / 0)

Huh. So that's why France doesn't do coalition governments?

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman

by dvx (dvx.clt ät gmail dotcom) on Sun Mar 14th, 2010 at 04:02:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: French Regional Elections (none / 1)

This is a regional election. The rules are not the same as national elections.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Mar 14th, 2010 at 04:06:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: French Regional Elections (4.00 / 3)

As for governments, there may be two or more parties involved in forming one. The left in government, for example, generally includes, with the PS as principal group, les Verts, the PC, the Radicaux de Gauche. The right, for most of the 5th Republic, has composed governments out of the Gaullists and the "centre" right (typified by Giscard). Only recently has Sarkozy attempted to create one hegemonic party on the right, the UMP.

Mostly, these coalitions arise before or during elections (between the two rounds). This is, it's true, unlike coalitions in Germany.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Mar 14th, 2010 at 04:20:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: French Regional Elections (none / 0)

See my comment below.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Mar 14th, 2010 at 04:05:32 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: French Regional Elections (none / 0)

What do you mean by run-offs?

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Mar 14th, 2010 at 04:07:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: French Regional Elections (none / 0)

The top two candidates in the first round advance to a run-off in the second round?

The brainless should not be in banking -- Willem Buiter

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Mar 14th, 2010 at 04:08:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: French Regional Elections (none / 0)

But you already answered this in your top-level comment:

One should remember there are two rounds of voting. Only lists having scored at least 10% in the first round may line up for the second (and they may make deals with bigger lists before that). So Round Two sees a decider between the big lists.

Sorry for coming into the thread in medias res.

The brainless should not be in banking -- Willem Buiter

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Mar 14th, 2010 at 04:09:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: French Regional Elections (4.00 / 2)

I wondered if you were giving the term some other meaning than a second round.

Otherwise, it's not first past the post.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Mar 14th, 2010 at 04:13:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Not first-past-the-post (none / 0)

I didn't realise up to 9 parties could progress to the second round.

The brainless should not be in banking -- Willem Buiter

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Mar 14th, 2010 at 04:20:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Not first-past-the-post (4.00 / 2)

It's quite possible (depending on local deals struck) that there'll be four lists on the run-off this time (as per the estimates I posted below.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Mar 14th, 2010 at 04:26:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: French Regional Elections (4.00 / 3)

A bit of one, a bit of the other. The list that gets an absolute majority (whether in the first or second round) gets one quarter of the seats on the regional council as a "base". The remaining three-quarters are distributed proportionally, with a threshold of 5% for getting a seat. So it's proportional with a big advantage to the winning list (intended to produce a clear majority in the council and avoid a "hung" council or constantly shifting coalitions).

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Mar 14th, 2010 at 04:04:53 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: French Regional Elections (none / 1)

The rules can be found in the French wikipedia.

The brainless should not be in banking -- Willem Buiter

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Mar 14th, 2010 at 04:24:01 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: French Regional Elections (none / 0)

Yup.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sun Mar 14th, 2010 at 04:29:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: French Regional Elections (4.00 / 4)

The real reason behind the majority bonus is that in 1998 the regional barons proved they couldn't refrain themselves from allying with the FN when faced with the prospect of losing their chauffeur driven cars - in many regions the PS had a plurality but UMP + FN had a majority. The bonus was instituted to prevent that situation - and hide the reality of the position of many right wing apparatchik when it came to alliances with the far right.

Un roi sans divertissement est un homme plein de misères

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Sun Mar 14th, 2010 at 11:05:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

French Regional Elections | 63 comments (63 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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