{"id":11140,"date":"2021-03-16T10:00:10","date_gmt":"2021-03-16T08:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sciencespo.fr\/research\/cogito\/home\/?p=11140"},"modified":"2021-07-01T14:50:42","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T12:50:42","slug":"the-right-left-cleavage-is-very-much-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sciencespo.fr\/research\/cogito\/home\/the-right-left-cleavage-is-very-much-alive\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"The Right-Left Cleavage is Very Much Alive"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Much has been said about the disappearance of the left-right political division since Emmanuel Macron won the presidential election in 2017.\u00a0 This vision, according to Janine Mossuz-Lavau<\/a>, is flawed. Her latest book \u2014 Le clivage droite-gauche. Toute une histoire<\/a> (The right-left cleavage. A full history<\/i>, Sciences Po editions, September 2020)\u00a0 looks back at the history of this divide. She claims that, far from being outdated, it is rejected by the electors themselves. The electors represent the \u201cdemand\u201d and still consider each other according to these two political ideologies, which represent the \u201csupply\u201d. It is therefore up to \u201csupply\u201d and not \u201cdemand\u201d to alter its expression, because the people have not abandoned the historic, fundamental values of these political parties.<\/span>\u00a0Interview.<\/span><\/p>\n

When and where were the notions of right and left first conceived?<\/h5>\n

Janine Mossuz-Lavau: In France, the first separation is generally considered to have been observed in 1789 with the Estates General. Those in favour of religion and the king were seated (already!) on the right, while those against had the seats on the left. However, in England, as early as 1672, the members of the House of Commons were also placed either to the right or left of the king (as pointed out by Marcel Gauchet<\/a>, who has studied this divide in great detail).<\/span><\/p>\n

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Palais-Bourbon: shots of the meeting room. 1849-1852. Public Domain<\/p><\/div>\n

In France, the system really came into being during the Restoration period, its use being sanctified in 1815-1820. Over the years, the two sides have had different names: red and white, republicans and conservatives, cosmopolitans and nationalists, or, closer to home, dirigists and liberals. However, as Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Bon(1)<\/sup><\/a>Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric\u00a0 Bon – Les \u00e9lections en France : histoire et sociologie<\/a>, \u00c9ditions du Seuil, 1978.<\/span><\/span>