The French political crisis

Teresa de Sousa asks how France can get rid of its conservative baggage, such as its anachronistic nonnegotiable social benefits. "While France flounders schizophrenically between a "culture of decline" and a "culture of exception", it is two "outsiders" who emerge in the polls as the most popular candidates for the 2007 presidential elections. On the right, Nicolas Sarkozy is the anti-Villepin [the current prime minister]. Less arrogant and closer to the people, he is the prudent defender of change. ... On the other side, Ségolène Royal stands out among the masculine class of socialist dinosaurs. Royal does not say much about what should change, but she steers clear of the litany of tedious and senseless tirades coming from the French left. The two seem to represent ... the exit valve of a country in deep social and political crisis."

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