Research Papers

After the elections

2026

What realignments do the local french elections (march 2026) reveal? Who truly emerges as the winner of the vote? Is local democracy losing momentum? Seven researchers from CEVIPOF provide an immediate analysis of the "municipal elections" : cross-cutting perspectives, diverse approaches—electoral behavior, territorial dynamics, partisan realignments—and interpretative frameworks to understand what these results actually change.

• Analysis of the local election results in the aftermath of 22 March 2026 (PDF 852 Ko)

-Voter apathy: a stark reminder of the discontent with political representation Anne Muxel, Emeritus Research Director at the CNRS, CEVIPOF

-LFI and the RN are significantly disrupting the municipal balance of power. Jérôme Jaffré, Associate Researcher at CEVIPOF

-National Rally: quantity over quality. Gilles Ivaldi, CNRS Researcher Fellow at CEVIPOF

-The left in turmoil. Luc Rouban, CNRS Research Director at CEVIPOF

-The ebb of the « Green Wave » Daniel Boy, Emeritus research Fellow at CEVIPOF

-The municipal decline of Macronism. Pascal Perrineau, Associate Professor at CEVIPOF

• Montargis, the Loiret, and the Municipal Elections of 2026: What can a rural town tell us about the municipal elections in France? Annabelle Lever, avril 2026

This note examines the municipal elections from the perspective of small and medium-sized rural towns, such as Montargis, highlighting the challenges faced by residents and the limited capacity of local authorities to address them, with broader implications for both representative democracy and constitutional government.

2024

• Analyses of the results of the second round of the 2024 legislative elections (PDF, 705 Ko)
• First round of the French legislative election : Analysis by eight researchers (PDF, 414 Ko) 
• Understanding the results the day after June 9th 2024 (PDF, 217 Ko) 

Working papers

• Beyond The Ballot: Understanding the Lasting Impacts of the Romania’s 2025 elections (PDF, 600 Ko), Antonia Colibasanu, september 2025

1. What Do Populists Want from Their Representatives and Why? (PDF 600 Ko) Kevin Arceneaux, january 2025
2. The momentum of the Rassemblement national and the perspective of the June 2024 european elections (PDF 434 Ko), Pascal Perrineau, May 2024
3. The strange negative public opinion in France towards the European Union (PDF, 560 Ko), Bruno Cautrès, May 2024
4. Voting in the dark: evaluating the European Union and its political effects politiques(PDF 435 Ko), Luc Rouban, April 2024

Analyses of the Political Trust Barometer 2025

Four insights on the Major Turmoil for French Democracy Bruno Cautrès, Flora Chanvril, Damien Bol, Luc Rouban, February 2025

All our working papers

Consult all our notes (mainly in French):

• Notes about trust in politics (FR)
• Electoral analysis (FR)
• Social Issues (FR)