French Legislative elections (post 1945) Survivor - 1986 is the survivor !

[Antonio the Sixth]

I think legislative elections deserve to have their survivor since Presidentials and Referendums have. Despite what everybody says, legislative elections are the important elections, even in the 5th Republic. Without a majority in the parliament, a President is effectively powerless, as the "cohabitations" have proved.
So, let's go !

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17
1945								9		3	2	10	15	30	16
1946 (j.)								10	1	6
1946 (n.)					3	11		21
1951		1			1	1		8		1	5	12
1956		1				1		2		1	1	8	18
1958				6	21	17
1962	1												1	36
1967				2	10	5	4	18	3
1968	5
1973	2	4
1978															6	1	3
1981		1		3	16	15	22
1986															6		2
1988								7	1	4	6
1993			1	16
1997																4
2002		1	4
2007		2	1	8	24
# Votes	8	5	6	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	4	5	5

[Antonio the Sixth]

1968

[Antonio the Sixth]

1968 is out

Round 2 begins. Vote to eliminate 2 elections.

[Antonio the Sixth]

1968 wasn't an important election, just the right way to conclude a crisis that was already over. While the dissolution was theoretically chosen, it was a direct consequence of external events. If you're looking for a really chosen dissolution, then the only correct example is 1997. Also, this "anti-chienlit" reflex vote masked the real political trends of the country and the new parliament (which lasted for 5 years) wasn't at all representative of the country's aspirations.

[Antonio the Sixth]

If we play the stupid little hack game, I'll play along:

What the hell ? I'd like some explanation for you calling me along with 4 other posters "stupid little hacks" just beause you don't like how we voted.

Anyways :
2002 (people voted for UMP just because Chirac was elected President, and we know how he was)
1973 (uninteresting indeed)

[Antonio the Sixth]

While I might certainly have done the wrong choice, I don't think the right one was so evident. Let's end this discussion now.

[Antonio the Sixth]

1973 is out

Round 3 begins. Vote to eliminate 1 election and to keep one.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Eliminate 2002
Keep 1956

[Antonio the Sixth]

2002 is out

Round 4 begins. You have 7 votes, to split 4-2-1.

[Antonio the Sixth]

4 to 1958
2 to 1993
1 to 1967

[Antonio the Sixth]

Where are Hans, Xahar and Kalwejt ?

[Antonio the Sixth]

1993 is out

Round 5 begins. You have 15 votes, to split 8-4-2-1.

[Antonio the Sixth]

8 to 1958
4 to 1967
2 to 2007
1 to 1951

[Antonio the Sixth]

2007 is out

Round 6 begins. You have 10 votes, that you can split as you want, except that you can't give more than 5 votes to one election.

[Antonio the Sixth]

5 to 1958
2 to 1967
1 to 1951
1 to 1946 (nov)
1 to 1956

[Antonio the Sixth]

1958 is out

Round 7 begins. For this round, an immunity vote will also be held. You have 10 votes, that you can split as you want between the elimination and the immunity vote. However, for each category, you can vote for only one election, and you must dedicate at least 2 votes to each of them.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Maybe we can finally stop being hacks and eliminate one of the most boring ones now, no?

9 to eliminate 1981
1 to immunize 1978

8-2 is the maximum.

Also, I must say that in a rapid look I was sure that 1981 would be eliminated in this round, and the final results (positively) surprised me. Anyways, it's good to have close and unexpected rounds.

[Antonio the Sixth]

2 to eliminate 1967 (that's a lost cause anyways)
8 to immunize 1997 (we never know...)

I'll let this open until Hans hasn't voted.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Yeah, I understand. Gaullism is inherently rich in twist and unexpected events, since De Gaulle's legitimacy was more charismatic than institutional.
However, 1962 still strikes me as the most important election of the gaullist, while 1967's results weren't so different than others (the majority even gained some votes and retained its majority). The difference between 1st and 2nd round is interesting, but not more than 2007.

[Antonio the Sixth]

1981 is out

Round 8 begins. You have 15 votes, to split 5-4-3-2-1.

[Antonio the Sixth]

5 to 1967
4 to 1951
3 to 1946 (nov)
2 to 1956
1 to 1946 (june)

I hope immunity isn't too long: 3 rounds ?

4. You will be able to vote 1997 out on round 12. But I think you can't deny it a place in the top 5 and pretend to be objective.

[Antonio the Sixth]

The "dissolution ratéee", a PS comback only 4 year after the most epic debacle in its history, the longest cohabitation ever ? But of course the only reason I support it is because I'm a Jospinmaniac...

[Antonio the Sixth]

1951 and 1956 were two very interesting elections, as was 1945, but all had the defect that they were Fourth Republic elections, which means that their results didn't have clear consequences on the policies practiced by governments, if even they had on their composition.
1988 had interesting results, but after all it just reflected the "France Unie" aspiration expressed by the nation. And while it had the potential to be a hung Assembly, but in practice the government managed to pass the bills it wanted to pass (also due to Rocard's appeal to center, probably). Neither the election nor the legislature were truly original.
1978 and 1986 are my top 2 and 3 picks, but after all 1978 resulted in the mere continuation of the previous government and in the same way, and 1986 had the potential to be far more interesting, if the right had failed to get an absolute majority.

Also, the FN's performance certainly hurt the right somewhat, but you certainly know that only a small part of FN voters would have voted for the traditional right, certainly not enough to flip the election.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Once again, waiting for Hans.

[Antonio the Sixth]

November 1946 is out

Round 9 begins. You have 1 vote (simple elimination).