Abstract/Summary

The 2022 presidential election saw Emmanuel Macron win a widely-expected second term in a run-off against Marine Le Pen, confirming the demise of the pre-2017 party system. In the ensuing parliamentary elections, however, Macron’s party lost its majority, and the divided opposition forces staged a partial recovery. Most notably, the ‘republican front’, which had hitherto limited the far-right Rassemblement National’s access to elective office, crumbled. This article analyses the transformation and destabilization of France’s party system through the lenses of France’s electoral system, the evolution of socio-political cleavages, and the behaviour of key players before and during the election campaign.