Abstract

Alignments after the 'Revolution'

The article focuses on trends of French municipal elections. The author states that after the second round of the municipal elections on March 21, 1971 it was amusing to read the French press. Everybody from was satisfied on winning impressive victories. Apparently nobody had lost anything and it looked like an arithmetic miracle. Actually, that trick is always done by putting the spotlight on successes and forgetting or fuzzing up defeats and it was possible on this occasion because the balanced aspect of electoral results gave an overall picture of few big changes and a general impression of stability. A political analysis of results is therefore the more difficult, yet some trends can be distinguished and some lessons learned, particularly if one takes into account the general political conditions in which elections occurred.