Elecciones francesas 2007

Prospectus for research paper
Theme: Nicolas Sarkozy’s Political campaign (2007 French Presidential Elections)
Elections date: First round of voting took place on April 22, 2007 and second round on May 6th, 2007
Some of the issues that I will try to include in the research paper are the next:
* How does the French presidential election work?
The French presidential election is based onsecuring a majority of the popular vote. In order for a candidate to be on the ballot, they must have received the support of 500 elected officials around France.
If after the first round of voting, a single candidate has received over 50% of the vote, the election is over and a winner can be declared. If no one secures a majority, there is a runoff between the top two finishing candidates.This is made to ensure that one of those two candidates win a majority in the second round, which means becoming the next President of France.

* Political parties in France
During the 2007 French Presidential elections, there were twelve candidates representing different parties, however, the most important parties considering their results are:
* Union for a Popular Movement (Unionpour un mouvement populaire) represented by Nicolas Sarkozy.
* Socialist Party (Parti socialiste), represented by Ségolène Royal.
* Union for French Democracy (Union pour la démocratie française), represented by François Bayrou.
* National Front (Front national), represented by Jean-Marie Le Pen.

* France major issues during the 2007 presidential campaign:
* Risingimmigration
* France's declining status abroad
* High unemployment and slow growth of the economy
* Crime
* Globalization

* Importance of the 2007 French Presidential Elections
Considering the strongest candidates, Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal, they were representing a generational change. Either candidate would have become the first French president to beborn after World War II and the first not to have been in politics under Charles de Gaulle (French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969 ; he remains the most influential leader in modern French history).

* Nicolas Sarkozy:
* Political campaign
Hiscampaign was focused on France's ailing economy, the high unemployment rate and taxes.
He promised “a new generation of leadership to transform the country, restore its self-respect and reinvigorate ties with the United States and Europe.”
* Message
"To rally the people of France to a new French dream, a French dream which will be the dream of a fraternal republic, where everyone willfind their place, where no-one will be afraid of the other, and where diversity will be experienced not as a threat but as a richness."
* How does his message changed according to the situation?
Until the summer of 2006, “Sarkozy's campaign was centered on the notion of “rupture”, a fundamental break with past politics and economics in France”
In 2007 part of his message wascentered on: “a new political synthesis allowing the reconciliation of economic efficiency and social justice, of authority and liberty, of the attachment to France and the opening towards Europe”.
* Importance of Internet for the campaign
The web and the blogs played a significant role in the 2007 French presidential elections, specially for the leading candidates: Sarkozy, Royal , Bayrou, and Le Pen. The use of internet had a great impact the political strategies in this country considering that in France, internet now penetrates over 50% of all households, according to a survey by Mediametrie, a media ratings company in France.
Another fact, is that internet was an important source of political information for people above 35 years old, and it represented a tool which was...