Politics, Blogs and France

Today the first round of France’s presidential elections were held, with Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal emerging as the winners, and its clear that political blogging is certainly not limited to the USA. 

Anne Cantener has this interesting post on the Guardian’s website about the role of blogs in the French election.

Interestingly, some French bloggers have used popular anti-Bush web videos as inspiration for new videos that take on Sarkozy, the conservative candidate.  Sarkozy’s team, however, has acted quickly to balance things out, posting ”clever” videos that paint their candidate in a more flattering light.    

Cantener ends her post by observing that most of the bloggers and Internet users in France are elite white males – the same class that has dominated politics there for centuries.

But I’m not willing to dismiss the significance of this trend quite so easily. While blogs may or may not retain their influence, the internet and digital media are here to stay. And with each election they play a greater and greater role. I would argue that this gives more people more access more often, resulting in a net gain in “participation” (broadly defined) in the political system.

All of this could hold special promise and potential for the future of France, which has struggled lately with minority populations who feel out of touch with mainstream France. Perhaps digital media can act as a mechanism to give these groups greater voice in French society.