Only 52% of French people believe that voting is the most effective way to “influence political decisions”. That’s according to a survey* Cluster 17 for Le Point. This data highlights a “democratic divorce” between two Frances who no longer share the same vision of democracy. In voting, the other half of the French people polled indeed prefer violent actions (15%) or demonstrations (14%), while 13% of the French people questioned consider that no means are effective. Of note, 35% of 18-24 year olds think that violent actions are the most effective way for citizens to influence political decisions.
In detail, the authors of the study observe a clear correlation between the economic and cultural capital of respondents and their “belief” in voting. Thus we observe that those who believe the most in the effectiveness of the vote are executives, the highest incomes and graduates of a master’s degree – respectively 57%, 67% and 58%. Conversely, this rate stagnates around 50% among workers and employees, low incomes and holders of a baccalaureate.
This demarcation is even more evident on the political level. While 79% of Emmanuel Macron voters in the first round of the 2022 presidential election believe that voting is the best way to be heard, 25% of Jean-Luc Mélenchon voters and 20% of Marine Le Pen voters believe in violent action. “More broadly, it is the groups that have participated the most in the Yellow Vests movement that are most at odds with the vote: the ‘rupturist’ left-wing groups close to Jean-Luc Mélenchon: multiculturalists, revolted and united, as well as the popular clusters close to Marine Le Pen: the social-patriots, the eurosceptics and the refractory”, analyzes Stéphane Fournier, director of studies at Cluster 17.
Another enlightening fact emerges from this survey. To the question “On a scale of 0 to 10, how would you rate the degree of democracy in French society?” “, the respondents gave, on average, the score of 4.5/10. Here again, the break is clear between the clusters close to Emmanuel Macron and those of the two other Lepenist and Melenchonist blocs, perfectly illustrating the tripartition at work. Centrists and Liberals, who make up the two wealthiest clusters in the Cluster 17 segmentation, are the most “satisfied” with the degree of democracy in France – they score 7.6 and 6.3. The two most popular and radical clusters – the rebels and the eurosceptics – are the most critical (2.4/10). “This denotes a significant convergence between economic downgrading, political radicalism and democratic mistrust,” summarizes Stéphane Fournier.
*Study carried out by Cluster 17 for Le Point with a sample of 1,995 people representative of the French population aged 18 and over. The sample is drawn up according to the quota method, with regard to the criteria of sex, age, socio-professional category, type of municipality and region of residence. Online self-administered questionnaire. Interviews conducted from April 21 to 22, 2023.
