Towards the 2017 French election: Socialist and Republican nominees from the selection to the presidential election

Primaries have become an important aspect of the French party system. In recent times, the process, used by different parties, has been opened up to coopérateurs (‘sympathisers’). Both the Socialist Party and the Republicans held primaries in the 2017 presidential elections. This can be seen as an expected step towards addressing problems such as leadership and representativeness. This process is also in line with the personalisation that has become a feature of the Fifth Republic. Following the collapse of the main parties during the last elections, the primary system seems to have entered a period of crisis. This article will hence analyse the introduction of primaries in France, with particular attention to the 2017 presidential election. Our focus is on the similarities and differences between these two open selection processes and their respective effects.