French Electoral Institutions and the Economic Vote

Michael S. Lewis-Beck, University of Iowa
Richard Nadeau, University of Montreal

Abstract

The economic vote exists in France, as in other Western democracies. Little is known, however, about how this economic vote is conditioned by their electoral institutions, which have unusual and considerable variation. Here we examine large survey data sets of French elections—legislative, presidential, and European—in order to test various institutional hypotheses. We find that economic voting is strongest in a presidential election under unified government. It is weakened when the election takes place under cohabitation, or is of the second order. Further, it is neither strengthed nor weakened on the second ballot. Electoral institutions clearly affect the magnitude and target of the economic vote. The French voter, in considering the economy, appears more sophisticated than naive.