François Mitterrand: ‘Speech in Defence of the Indefensible’ in the ‘Year of Farewells’

1996 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Pierre Rioux ◽  
Rosemary Morris
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Police Officer ◽  
The Political ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
European Elections ◽  
Violent Attack

It can scarcely be said that François Mitterrand lacked reasons for despondency between September 1994 and May 1995: the oppression of imminent retirement, the ravages of illness, the loss of his dearest friends; the tide of scandals mounting towards the presidency; the disastrous Socialist performance in both the legislative elections of 1993 and the European elections of 1994; the political, intellectual and emotional collapse of the brand of left-wing magnanimity which he had made his own and which had borne him to power; the ingratitude of public opinion, anxious for change. Most of the books devoted to the last months of his ‘reign’ fail to go beyond a fairly mechanical rendering of a feeling of anti-climax. Something of an exception is L'Année des adieux (‘Year of Farewells’),1 a bitter-sweet chronicle of life in the President's entourage by Laura Adler, an adviser to the Elysée; but her comradely offering does little to stem the tide of hostile, regretful or frankly accusatory offerings. It is no coincidence that Jean Montaldo's Mitterrand et les 40 voleurs (‘Mitterrand and the Forty Thieves’),2 has become a long-term best-seller: Montaldo, a former police officer, mercilessly exposes the nexus of scandal and intrigue in the presidential entourage. Or that Thierry Pfister's novel Le Nègre (‘The Negro)3 uses a thinly disguised cast of characters to make a violent attack on the betrayal of socialist ideas, with a bitterness felt also in Daniel Rondeau's Mitterrand et nous (‘Mitterrand and Ourselves’),4 referring to the post-1968 generation which the author claims to represent. Or, again, that it should be the President's most consistently vitriolic radio critic, Philippe Alexandre, who in a tardy attack of pseudo-remorse has undertaken a Plaidoyer impossible pour un vieux président abandonné par les siens (‘Speech in defence of the indefensible, on behalf of an ageing president deserted by his followers’).5 All in all, a display of authorial individuality and ardour, as writers scramble to accomplish the finally rather banal task of presenting the departing President with History's bill for board and lodging.

Social and demographic image of Jewish revolutionaries (based on materials from the All-Union Society of Political Prisoners and Exiled Settlers)

2021 ◽  
pp. 169-179
Author(s):  
Kuzma A. Yakimov
Keyword(s):  
Political Socialization ◽  
Political Prisoners ◽  
The Political ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Electronic Database ◽  
Social Origin ◽  
Revolutionary Movement ◽  
Level Of Education ◽  
Liberation Movement

The work is devoted to the study of the generalized sociographic image of the cohort of Jewish revolutionaries. The participation of Jews in the revolution is seen as an integral part of the all-Russian revolutionary process. In the course of the study, the role and place of Jews in the Rus-sian revolutionary movement in the late 19th – early 20th centuries was clarified and concretized. Thanks to the analysis of a personalized electronic database on Jewish revolutionaries, created on the basis of materials from the All-Union Society of Political Prisoners and Exiled Settlers, the structure of social origin, level of education and type of activity of the left wing of politically ac-tive Jewry has been analyzed. The features of the political socialization of Jews, constrained by restrictive articles of Jewish legislation, are shown. We come to the conclusion that such a signifi-cant percentage of Jews in the revolutionary movement is explained both by the long-term devel-opment of the revolutionary liberation movement in the Pale of Settlement, and by the existence of numerous restrictions for representatives of the Jewish nationality.

Political Attitudes of China’s Post-1980s Generation

2017 ◽  
Vol 09 (04) ◽  
pp. 112-124
Author(s):  
Wei SHAN
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Attitudes ◽  
The Political ◽  
Public Issues ◽  
Public Opinion Surveys ◽  
The Government

The political attitudes of the post-1980s generation in China are important for understanding the country’s political future. Public opinion surveys reveal the post-1980s group as the least nationalistic and more sceptical of the government than the older generations. They show little interest in politics despite their confidence of participating in public issues. In the long term, Beijing will have to face a society led by the more critical and less obedient post-1980s.

The speeches to the People in Cicero's oratorical corpora

2012 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 153-175
Author(s):  
Gesine Manuwald
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The People ◽  
Political Events

This paper discusses the function of speeches given by Cicero to the popular assembly (contio) as reports about recent political events or decrees. Several of the few extant examples are part of oratorical corpora consisting of speeches from politically difficult periods, namely from Cicero's consular year (63 BCE; Catilinarians) and from his fight against Mark Antony (44–43 BCE; Philippics). Cicero is shown to have applied his oratorical abilities in all these cases to exploit the contio speeches so as to present narrative accounts of political developments in his interpretation and thus to influence public opinion in the short term during the political process and particularly, within an edited corpus, in the long term.

The Malayan Chinese Association, 1948–65

1965 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 40-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaret Roff
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
The Political ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Mainland Chinese ◽  
Conservative Group ◽  
General Welfare ◽  
Chinese Association ◽  
Racial Lines ◽  
National Organisation

In 1948, the Chinese alone of the three major communities of Malaya had no single political or quasi-political organisation concerned to foster and further their interests within that country. The United Malays National Organisation had evolved under the leadership of Dato' Onn bin Ja'afar to press Malay opposition to the Malayan Union scheme, with the enfeebling of the Sultans and the modification of the special position of the Malays that it involved. Having achieved this specific aim, it remained to work for the general welfare of Malays, air their felt grievances and assert their claimed rights. Fragmentation within the Indian community along religious and racial lines was reflected in the multiplication of organisations claiming to speak for it, though by 1948 the Malayan Indian Congress was beginning to emerge as the chief of these, and to draw others within its ambit. But, although many of the more important mainland Chinese political parties, including the Kuomintang and Communists, had their branches or counterparts within the Malayan Chinese community, the political strength of the community was dispersed and it spoke with no clear voice on matters concerning it as a whole. This is especially illustrated in its failure to organise any effective counter to U.M.N.O's crusade against the Malayan Union scheme, although the Chinese stood to gain much by its retention, and lost much when it was revoked. Tan Cheng Lock, and others aware of the long-term implications of the change, made efforts to arouse the Chinese to defend their newly gained rights, but the majority remained apathetic and politically disengaged. It would seem that many of the more conservative Chinese had serious reservations about their political future within Malaya, or felt that those predominantly Chinese organisations primarily concerned with local Malayan politics were dangerously tainted with left-wing bias: yet the organisations representative of the conservative group — the Chinese Chambers of Commerce and the Chinese Assembly Halls — appeared to have little access to, or influence upon Government.

scholarly journals Text-Mining Approach to Political Communication on Twitter: The Analysis of the Discourse of Spain’s Principal Political Parties During the European Parliament Elections in 2019

2021 ◽  
pp. 231-270
Author(s):  
Emilia Smolak Lozano ◽  
Atsuho Nakayama
Keyword(s):  
Text Mining ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
The Political ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
European Elections ◽  
European Parliament Elections

Twitter has become a powerful tool of political communication, that now plays a significant role during elections, especially in countries such as Spain, where use of digital media is extended widely throughout society. Digital democracy is based to a significant extent on the quality of public discourse and persuasion implemented in the digital messages contained in tweets. Text mining methods applied to tweets during the 2019 European elections made it possible to examine content, frequently used keywords and expressions, sentiment and tone of the political discourse of the main Spanish political parties. The objective of the analysis is to determine the scope and thematic focus of the political discourse on Twitter and make an inter-party comparison. The results reveal that Spanish politics were a much bigger focus than the European perspective and the social outlook pursued by the left wing turned out to be more visible than other proposals. Fragmentised discourse in the case of the populist parties focused on concrete problems to be resolved, whereas the main approach of Twitter politics was the fight against right-wing rivals. It is possible to conclude rather low maturity in terms of democratic public discourse with the high persuasive components integrated within tweets and a self-appraising attitude.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS OF THE CADET PARTY

2021 ◽  
pp. 24-29
Author(s):  
Petr P. Tikhonov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Other ◽  
The Political ◽  
Russian Society ◽  
International Authority ◽  
The One

This article raises the problem of the international activities of the Cadet Party from 1906 to 1917. During this period, the Cadets were at the head of the foreign policy activities of the State Duma from the first to the fourth convocations. Firstly, the reason is that the cadets had a developed network of personal and professional contacts with Western politicians and journalists; secondly, they formulated their own vision of foreign policy, and were also ideologically close to the political elite of England and France. The Cadet Party used its international authority in two directions: on the one hand, this increased the party’s authority within the Russian society; on the other hand, Russia was drawing closer to its allies in the Entente. In this rapprochement, it is not so much the geopolitical aspect that is important as the establishment of horizontal ties between the societies of these countries, which allows building long-term friendly relations. This was the main feature of the activities of the Cadets – they did not have government powers, their activities did not lead to the conclusion of agreements, but it influenced public opinion both in Russia and abroad.

Waiting for 2022: strategy and tactics of the French party «Europe. Ecology – The Greens»

2021 ◽  
pp. 212-234
Author(s):  
Galina Kaninskaya
Keyword(s):  
Political Ecology ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
The Political ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Fifth Republic ◽  
European Elections ◽  
Political Role ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Political Spectrum ◽  
Alternative Choice

Political ecology entered the history of the Fifth Republic in France relatively recently, since 1974, when the candidate of «The Greens» party R. Dumont took part in the first round of presidential elections. From that moment until the emergence of the modern party «Europe. Ecology – The Greens», political ecology went through several organizational stages, each with one of the most important issues for «The Greens» was the electoral strategy and tactics, invariably associated with positioning on the political scene. In essence, «The Greens» parties always face an alternative choice: to act in joint electoral lists with the socialists or to present their own autonomous lists at all levels of elections. With that, there is no doubt that French ecologists make up the left of the political spectrum. And for a long time, French ecologists were much more successful separately from the socialists in the European elections to the European Parliament (EP). The French «Greens» were particularly successful in the 2019 EP elections, after the creation in 2010 of a kind of «political cooperative» in the form of the party «Europe. Ecology – The Greens». The article is devoted to the situation in and political role of the French party «Europe. Ecology – The Greens» (EELV). The party's activity is analyzed since the European Parliament elections in 2019. The reasons for the success of the ecologist party in the municipal elections of 2020 and the results of the elections to the senate of the Fifth Republic on 27 th September, 2020 are also considered. An explanation is given for the phenomenon of the growing popularity of the ecological movement in contemporary France, it is shown what impact the problem of climate warming and problem of environment’s deterioration, and also what adjustments have the COVID-19 pandemic made on the electoral process. The article examines how the EELV is preparing to perform in the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in 2022, examines the political programs of the main candidates, and assesses the prospects of the ecologist party for uniting «progressive forces» behind itself and its relationships with other left-wing parties within the framework of the «two concentric circles» tactic. Some doubts were expressed about EELV’s willingness to lead the highest echelons of power.

scholarly journals European Left Party – a New Ghost of Communism to Europe

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 16-23
Author(s):  
Boris Guseletov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
The Political ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Political Arena ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
European Elections ◽  
Left Flank ◽  
The North ◽  
The Soviet Union

The article analyzes the phenomenon of the emergence and development of a new pan-European political Party of the European left in the political arena. Its forerunner was a Forum of the new European left, formed in 1991, close to the Communist and workers’ parties and the group «European United Left – Nordic Green Left» in the European Parliament, which emerged in 1995 through the merger of «Confederal Group of the European United Left» faction of environmentalists «Left-wing Green of the North». Many experts viewed these parties as a vestige of a bipolar world, and believed that with the collapse of the Soviet Union, they should finally disappear from the political arena of Europe, giving up the left flank to the socialists and social Democrats. However, European Communists and left-wing radicals demonstrated incredible political vitality and in the tenth years of the twentieth century in a number of EU countries (Greece, France, the Czech Republic) managed to bypass their opponents on the left flank. In 2004 a pan-European party of the European left was created, which is characterized by a commitment to unorthodox Communist and environmental values and a moderately eurosceptic view of the EU’s development prospects. In the last European elections in 2019, this party lost some ground, but nevertheless managed to maintain its small faction in the European Parliament. So today it is difficult to speak about prospects of the European left, although the strength of parties in Germany, Greece, Spain, France and other countries, as well as the weakening of the party of European socialists, gives us reasonable confidence in the fact that the radical left will be able to maintain its presence on the political stage of Europe in the next 10-15 years. The author of the article tried to identify the causes of this political force and its future prospects.

Paris is Not Responding: Views on the French Condition, Colloquia at New York University’s Institute of French Studies, Spring, 1985

1986 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 309-321
Author(s):  
David Beriss
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
French Studies ◽  
The People ◽  
The Right ◽  
Economic Future

When the Socialists arrived in power in 1981, the word of the day was changement, and the people dancing in the streets of Paris seemed to indicate an exuberant optimism for the political and economic future. Now, with the 1986 legislative elections approaching, the Right seems almost certain to win; public opinion appears to have swung against the Left in power. If people take to the streets today, whether they be angry parents d’élèves or workers, they are more than likely to be protesting against the Socialists. Has the Left in power proved to be incompetent? Have they mismanaged political power, or have they misunderstood their constituency? That a changement has occurred there is little doubt, but the changes do not seem to be those expected. In last spring’s colloquia at New York University’s Institute of French Studies various aspects of the practice of the Left in power and the changing context in which that power is exercised were examined.

Arte ConTexto

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 29-52
Author(s):  
Antonio Bellisario ◽  
Leslie Prock
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Political Violence ◽  
Pictorial Representation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Political Dimension ◽  
Political Views ◽  
Socialist Government ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Military

The article examines Chilean muralism, looking at its role in articulating political struggles in urban public space through a visual political culture perspective that emphasizes its sociological and ideological context. The analysis characterizes the main themes and functions of left-wing brigade muralism and outlines four subpolitical phases: (i) Chilean mural painting’s beginnings in 1940–1950, especially following the influence of Mexican muralism, (ii) the development of brigade muralism for political persuasion under the context of revolutionary sociopolitical upheaval during the 1960s and in the socialist government of Allende from 1970 to 1973, (iii) the characteristics of muralism during the Pinochet dictatorship in the 1980s as a form of popular protest, and (iv) muralism to express broader social discontent during the return to democracy in the 1990s. How did the progressive popular culture movement represent, through murals, the political hopes during Allende’s government and then the political violence suffered under the military dictatorship? Several online repositories of photographs of left-wing brigade murals provide data for the analysis, which suggests that brigade muralism used murals mostly for political expression and for popular education. Visual art’s inherent political dimension is enmeshed in a field of power constituted by hegemony and confrontation. The muralist brigades executed murals to express their political views and offer them to all spectators because the street wall was within everyone's reach. These murals also suggested ideas that went beyond pictorial representation; thus, muralism was a process of education that invited the audience to decipher its polysemic elements.

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