The Rise of Political Extremism in France: A Political Crisis Behind Social Unrest

Following the recent results of French local elections of March 2014, a recurring debate over the rise of extremist politics in France came back. As it will be observed in this case study, globalisation is not the cause but rather an exhibitor of four elements unravelling socially and politically the country:closed secularism, the French idea of nationality following the Revolution, political taboos induced by a syndicatecaptured society and an overwhelming two-party system. The first two factors exaggerated through globalisation are the cause of social unrest whereas the two latter cause the political crisis. This scope of this article is to distinguish the two crisis and the different challenges facing the countryas well as inducing a reflexion on modern democracy and the social and democratic consequences of a two-party system.