French election reflects death of political parties

     

The political party is dying and independents now rule among voters around the globe. France has emerged as the leader of this movement, and the first confirmation of its depth and likely permanence will come on Sunday, when the French vote in the first round of their presidential election, says Oxford University’s John Lloyd:

Parties asked the people to trust them because they were created by activist groups to further their social and economic interests. The new individual candidates ask people to trust them because they are not of a party, will not further party interests but will devote themselves to the public, unencumbered.

Without dramatic change to their messages and approach, established political parties will fade away altogether. .. To adapt, establishment parties must begin to frame their ideas differently, Jeff D. Colgan and Robert O. Keohane write for Foreign Affairs:

To derig the liberal order and stave off complete defeat at the hands of populists, however, traditional parties must do more than rebrand themselves and their ideas. They must develop substantive policies that will make globalization serve the interests of middle- and working-class citizens. Absent such changes, the global liberal order will wither away.

RTWT

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