The latest issue of PS: Political Science and Politics, published by Cambridge Journals for the American Political Science Association, predicts the outcome of the French presidential election claiming that current incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy will lose.
(PRWEB) April 05, 2012
The latest issue of PS: Political Science and Politics, published by Cambridge Journals for the American Political Science Association, predicts the outcome of the French presidential election claiming that current incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy will lose.
An article from Martial Foucault and Richard Nadeau of the University of Montreal makes the bold prediction that Sarkozy will lose the May election by a small margin. In Forecasting the 2012 French Presidential Election, Foucault and Nadeau have adopted the French tradition of forecasting electoral results from political-economy models. Examining both local and national voting patterns in every election from 1981 to 2007 and using models that include economic factors (such as unemployment) as well as other political variables, they predict Sarkozy's defeat in the second round.
It is widely acknowledged that Sarkozy faces a tough challenge. For the first time since 1981, when the right-wing president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing was defeated by the Socialist challenger François Mitterrand, the 2012 election takes place in difficult economic times. As the sitting president for the last five years, Sarkozy will likely be held accountable for the poor performance of the French economy. The large number of declared candidates from the Right running in the first round of the election is interpreted as a sign of the dissatisfaction with Sarkozy's record among his own followers, and some speculate that he may not even get to the decisive second round.
The four-part article reviews the literature on French forecasting models, outlines the main features of the French electoral system, introduces Foucault and Nadeau's model and the data examined and finally, discusses the predictions derived from this model, including their forecast for the 2012 election.
Setting themselves the question, “Is the victory of Sarkozy's main challenger, the Socialist François Hollande, a foregone conclusion?”, Foucault and Nadeau have developed a forecasting model based on national data and data estimated from local départements, whose values were known several months before the election. Based on the results of this politico-economic model, they conclude that “Sarkozy will run a competitive fight but will ultimately lose … After 17 years of waiting, the return of a Socialist at the Élysée appears highly probable.”
Noting that forecasting models in France have previously accurately predicted the victories of Jacques Chirac in 1995 and François Mitterrand in 1981 and 1988, Foucault and Nadeau conclude that “the prediction that the next president of France will be a Socialist seems to rest on solid grounds, politically and statistically.”
Martial Foucault is an associate professor in the department of political science at the University of Montreal and director of the European Union Center for Excellence at the University of Montreal/McGill University. Richard Nadeau is a professor in the department of political science at the University of Montreal.
Published by Cambridge University Press for the American Political Science Association, PS: Political Science and Politics is hosted on cutting-edge digital platform, Cambridge Journals Online, and is published quarterly.
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Notes for Editors
For further information, please contact Michael Marvin on (00) +1-212-337-5041 or by email at mmarvin(at)cambridge(dot)org
About PS: Political Science & Politics
PS: Political Science & Politics is the journal of record for the American Political Science Association (APSA) for political science reporting on research, teaching, and professional development. PS, first published in 1968, is the only quarterly professional news and commentary journal in the field and is the prime source of information on political scientists' achievements and professional concerns.
For more information, go to: journals.cambridge.org/PSC
About APSA
APSA, founded in 1903, is the leading professional organization for the study of political science and serves more than 15,000 members in more than 80 countries. With a range of programs and services, APSA brings together political scientists from all field of inquiry, regions, and occupational endeavors within and outside academe, with the aim of expanding awareness and understanding politics.
About Cambridge Journals
Cambridge University Press publishes over 300 peer-reviewed academic journals across a wide spread of subject areas, in print and online. Many of these journals are the leading academic publications in their fields and together they form one of the most valuable and comprehensive bodies of research available today.
For more information, go to: journals.cambridge.org
About Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Dedicated to excellence, its purpose is to further the University's objective of advancing knowledge, education, learning, and research.
Its extensive peer-reviewed publishing lists comprise 45,000 titles covering academic research, professional development, over 300 research journals, school-level education, English language teaching and bible publishing.
Playing a leading role in today's international market place, Cambridge University Press has more than 50 offices around the globe, and it distributes its products to nearly every country in the world.
For more information, go to: http://www.cambridge.org
For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/4/prweb9374607.htm
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