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To know the historical legacy of each important French political formation (FN, UMP, UDF, PS and PC), it is easy to oppose the right and the left political wings. If it is not certain that this distinction still covers a reality today, it is not debatable that it really existed during two centuries and that it always inspires many behaviors. It corresponded amply to the opposition between order and change, between tradition and modernism, conservatism and reform. The concepts of right and left in politics in France come from the French National Assembly where, in August / September 1789, the MPs in favour of the royal veto gathered on the right of the president, opponents with this on the left gathering veto. To apprehend this opposition it is necessary to refer to the French political thought which crystallized around three large currents of thought: traditionalism, which takes its sources in the company of ‘Ancien Régime’; liberalism, which was the dominant ideology of the XIXth century; and socialism, which induced multiple applications in the XXth century.

If we examine the various reactions caused by the major event of the French political history which constitutes the starting point of the large currents of the political thought, the Revolution of 1789, it is possible to notice that the traditionalists refuse this upheaval which they regard as harmful. They note that it led only to disorder and regression. They recommend a return to the former situation, a restoration of the past and a rehabilitation of the ancient values. This current is manifest since 1789, when it took shape in reaction against the Revolution, but it takes, undoubtedly -at least at its early years- its sources from the Ancien Régime. It is backed on and refers to the experiment and the values which were devoted by the last centuries: respect of the ancients, of the age, of the traditions; reference to the elites, hierarchy, order, nature, providence. It recognized the importance of the authority, the obedience, the discipline and the honor. It is also the attachment to the institutions, to the Church, the family, the school, the army, the Fatherland. It is also the recognition of the corporations, groupings and associations. The individuals should not be let by themselves, they must be supported, helped, be framed. Traditionalism is, finally, the primacy of the Nation upon the individual, a Nation often represented by a providential man at the head of, according to times, monarchy, empire, fascism, the regime of Vichy or Gaullism. Within French traditionalism are the ‘father founders’: Joseph de Maistre and Louis de Bonald at the beginning of the XIXth century, then, in a different context, the father of positivism Auguste Comte. Lastly, with the development of nationalism, Maurice Barrès and Charles Maurras representatives of a restrictive nationalism, where Charles de Gaulle, incarnating a more open and pragmatic nationalism, i.e. a modernist nationalism.

The liberals, on the contrary, accept the transformations brought by the Revolution they initiated, but they recommend quickly a stabilization of the assets in order to organize the present. It emerged really in France during the XIXth century, although the liberal thought appears as of the XVIIth century. This current is based on the primacy of the individual and the respect of individual autonomy. The liberal thought is wary of the power and more particularly of the centralized power, considered as a permanent danger to freedoms. Liberalism is inclined to give the priority to the current problems, with the short term. From the economic point of view, it is the attachment with the private property, the need for competition, stimulation by the search of profit; it is the efficiency, the realistic and pragmatic spirit. This ideology supports the initiative, the individual blooming, but it is also accompanied by a certain selfishness. As for traditionalism, there is a conservative liberalism and a progressist and innovating liberalism. The liberalism, inspired of Montesquieu, is represented in the XIXth century by Benjamin Constant and Alexis de Tocqueville. During the XXth century, it is expressed through Alain under the third Republic, and then it will undergo the influence of Anglo-Saxon authors such as Hayek or J. Rawls.

The Socialists, not only accept the change introduced by the Revolution, since it reversed the old society, but they wish new transformations in order to set up a better social organization. It has been developed practically during the XXth century, although the socialist thought was shaped throughout the XIXth century. This current is founded on the belief that it is possible to build a future allowing the realization of a greater justice between the men, including a better harmony in the social organization. It stresses the primacy of general aims and of change. It should logically result a priority from medium term on the short term. In fact, it is not always the case, the socialist programs often claiming the immediate satisfaction of the social demands, and not always to the profit of the most underprivileged. Socialism is founded on a certain generosity, on a certain altruism, but it resulted in immediate sacrifices for a dubious future or even, completely utopian. Here also, there is a constructive socialism or of a destructive socialism. The socialism which, at the beginning, is subject to various influences, the one of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, or Babeuf, took very different forms: utopian, libertarian, revolutionary or reformist. He was also constantly pulled between two main tendencies: one centralizing, the other federalist. The result is the oppositions between Marx and Proudhon, then Bakounine, during the XIXth century, and then between Lénine and Blum, between the so-called “real” socialism and the social-democracy during the XXth century.

These three currents of thought crystallized in France by three main political tendencies: the right, the centre and the left ; but frequently in an approximate way. Each current reacts in a different manner, according to times and relatively to major political problems, in particular with respect to the religion, of the Church, the State, the Revolution, the social classes or the market economy. Moreover, the political parties are far from being always faithful to the ideologies that they claimed. Thus, the left was often conservative and the right was sometimes reformist. If in many countries, the grouping in two main tendencies prevails: republicans and the democrats (United States), the Tory and the Labour Party (Great Britain), the Christian democrats and the social-democrats (Germany), etc., France is characterized by its great diversity and by the fact that right and left hardly shaped coherent movements. In fact, the political culture of each country is strongly influenced by its history. In France, the right and the left can be defined only historically. Each current followed different evolutions. The beginnings of socialism were often reactionaries, this appeared during the XIXth century by its opposition to technical progress, mechanization, to industrialization, its reserves regarding to the vote for all and of the democracy. Thereafter, it sometimes deviated towards centralism, nationalism or even totalitarianism. The liberalism constantly hesitated between order and movement. Its natural tendency tends to conservatism, each time it reaches the power. On the other hand, it becomes reforming when it is in the opposition. Traditionalism took very different forms according to times. It currently tends to be assimilated to nationalism. Since the Vth Republic, and even more since the election of the President of the Republic by the direct universal suffrage, the distinctive phenomenon of the French political life contributed to reinforce the right/left opposition. Although it has become artificial on the plan of the ideas, it still remains important and cannot be ignored.

Aymeric Thareau January 2007

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