France
France exhibits high-range performance across all categories of the Global State of Democracy framework. Compared to five years ago, it has seen advances in Civic Engagement, particularly with regard to engagement in independent political and non-political associations. France has also advanced in Effective Parliament, specifically related to the legislature’s investigatory and executive oversight functions. France has also experienced declines in Access to Justice and to a lesser extent judicial corruption. There have been declines in Freedom of the Press over the same period, in terms of media bias and the harassment of journalists. Finally, there have been declines in Economic Equality. Though France is a high-income country, it struggles with mounting public debt and growing popular dissatisfaction with income inequality, which has been on the rise since the 2008 financial crisis. France’s economy is dominated by the services sector, and to a lesser extent manufacturing, tourism, and agriculture.
France’s main societal cleavages revolve around identity. The history of French colonialism has resulted in a diverse population, which struggles with ongoing discrimination. This came to the fore recently in the form of months of rioting and protests in New Caledonia to defend Indigenous representation in local elections. A 1978 law that bans the collection of racial and ethnic data makes effective public policy more challenging. France struggles to handle the large number of undocumented immigrants that have arrived over the years, and has been criticized for the mistreatment of refugees by public authorities including police officers. A 2021 Anti-Separatism law, which the government argued would support secularism and promote adherence to the "principles of the Republic”, limited foreign funding to religious organisations and was criticized for stigmatizing Islam. Far-right political parties have leveraged this identity cleavage to promote more narrow conceptions of French identity.
Participation remains robust, and the government has successfully convened citizens’ assemblies to give people a voice on topics ranging from climate change to assisted dying. France also has a long history of citizens taking to the streets to express their dissatisfaction with government policies or social issues. Recent examples include mass protests in response to the Israel-Gaza war and the "Yellow Vest" movement. The latter movement, which began in 2018 in response to a proposed fuel tax increase, has since grown to encompass a range of grievances, including economic inequality, government corruption and pension reform.
Legal frameworks that support gender equality and LGBTQIA+ rights are advanced, and France recently became one of the first countries to protect the right to abortion in the Constitution, yet physical and sexual violence remains an obstacle. Additionally, women’s economic marginalization persists in the form of unpaid care and domestic work, as well as a gender gap related to wages, labour market distribution, and senior positions in enterprises, government agencies and other organizations - particularly corporate executive committees.
Looking ahead, it will be important to watch Rights, especially related to new immigration laws, which should be monitored for their impacts on asylum seekers and refugees. In addition, it will be important to monitor reports of increasing police brutality, particularly in response to demonstrations (including crackdowns on environmental activists). As protests continue to be essential for organizing around social issues, it will be important to watch government actions that may impact the freedom of expression.
Last updated: June 2024
https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/
July 2024
No clear majority following snap legislative elections
On 30 June, France held early legislative elections. In the first round, 577 seats of the lower parliamentary house, the National Assembly, were contested. A second round of voting took place on 7 July. The newly created coalition of left-wing parties, the New Popular Front (Nouveau Front Populaire, NFP), won 182 seats, followed by the centrist Together (Ensemble) coalition with 168 seats, and the far-right National Rally party with 143 seats. Though the National Rally won the highest vote share in the first round of voting (33.35 per cent of the vote), the second round saw the party fall to third place after other political parties, including those in the New Popular Front and Together coalitions, withdrew 221 candidates to avoid three-way runoffs. Voter turnout was 66.71 per cent in the first round, and 66.63 per cent in the second, significantly higher than the voter turnout in the 2022 legislative elections. In the new legislature, women hold 36 per cent of the seats, compared to 37.3 per cent previously.
Sources: Le Monde (1), Le Monde (2), France Info, Le Figaro, Vie Publique, The New York Times, International IDEA, IPU
June 2024
Parliament approves foreign interference law to counter disinformation and cyberattacks
On 5 June, Parliament approved legislation requiring individuals, entities or political parties working to promote the interests of a foreign state outside of the EU to report their activities to the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life (HATVP), with some exceptions for diplomatic and consular staff stationed in France. The measures are based on recommendations from an April OECD report suggesting that France implement a scheme to regulate lobbying activities for foreign interests. The HATVP’s register of activities is planned to be established on 1 July 2025. In addition to these efforts to boost transparency, the law also expands intelligence tools to identify potential perpetrators of foreign interference. Another key feature of the law allows intelligence services to use “algorithmic surveillance” (a practice currently only permitted to combat terrorism) to detect cyberattacks or other interference operations on an experimental basis until June 2028. Some left-wing parties have objected, fearing repercussions for individual freedoms, and impacts on certain journalists, foreign NGOs and opposition parties.
Source: Vie Publique (1), Vie Publique (2), Euractiv, Public Senat, OECD, RFERL, Le Monde
May 2024
Riots break out in New Caledonia over Indigenous Kanak representation
On 15 May, President Macron declared a state of emergency after violent riots in New Caledonia, an archipelago in the Pacific which became a French overseas territory in 1946 following colonisation by France. The declaration prompted the closure of La Tontouta airport, restrictions on social media access, deployment of French security forces, and a temporary curfew and ban on gatherings in Nouméa, New Caledonia’s capital. The riots occurred in response to the 14 May vote in the National Assembly, France’s lower parliamentary house, to approve a constitutional amendment to increase the number of French nationals eligible to vote in New Caledonia. Local leaders have voiced concerns that the changes will diminish the vote of the Indigenous Kanak people, who comprise 41 per cent of the population. The law is currently suspended, after President Emmanuel Macron dissolved France’s National Assembly and called for snap legislative elections.
Sources: French Government, FranceInfo, LCP, International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, ConstitutionNet
Legislation regulating online content enters into force
On 22 May, a new law regulating online activity entered into force, aimed at protecting users online, particularly minors, including by preventing online harassment and tackling fraud. The law, known as SREN (sécuriser et réguler l’espace numérique, Securing and Regulating the Digital Space), was approved by Parliament on 10 April 2024. The law includes the possibility to suspend people convicted of criminal offenses online from social media platforms for six months and to block access to pornographic websites without requiring a court injunction. Additionally, the law cracks down on the publication of deep fake media content online and enables regulatory authority Arcom to order operators to halt the broadcasting of foreign ‘propaganda’ media under EU sanctions within 72 hours. The Constitutional Council annulled certain provisions on 17 May, including the creation of an offense of online contempt, which would criminalise the dissemination of offensive or discriminatory content, for disproportionately infringing on freedom of expression. In 2023, the European Commission issued two separate opinions warning France about the bill’s compliance with EU law. ARTICLE 19, an international rights organisation, has expressed concerns over the bill’s potential to grant the French government power to censor websites with minimal public accountability.
Sources: Vie Publique, Constitutional Council, Euractiv, Legifrance, Le Monde, Sciences Politiques, ARTICLE 19, European Commission
February 2024
France enshrines the right to abortion in the Constitution
France became one of the first countries in the world to protect the right to abortion in its Constitution. The amendment to Article 34 of the Constitution guarantees the freedom for a woman to have recourse to a voluntary termination of pregnancy. The amendment comfortably cleared the three-fifths majority vote in Parliament required for constitutional reform. It was passed by the upper house (the Senate) on 28 February, with 267 votes for and 50 against, and by the lower house (the National Assembly) on 4 March with 780 votes for and 72 against. A 2023 poll shows that 82 per cent of the French population believes abortion should be legal, among the highest levels of support in Europe. The government expressed that the decision to protect the right to abortion in the Constitution followed a rollback of abortion rights across Europe and around the world, including the 2022 decision by the Supreme Court to strip women of the right to abortion in the United States.
Sources: National Assembly, The Senate, Le Monde, IPSOS
See all event reports for this country
Global ranking per category of democratic performance in 2023
Basic Information
Human Rights Treaties
Performance by category over the last 6 months
Election factsheets
Global State of Democracy Indices
Hover over the trend lines to see the exact data points across the years
Factors of Democratic Performance Over Time
Use the slider below to see how democratic performance has changed over time