Overview

In 2017, the French political class experienced a small revolution. After decades marked by the ever more pronounced presence of career politicians in positions of power, the country elected a new President with limited experience. And in the aftermath of Emmanuel Macron's victory, an unusual legislature was elected. Rejuvenated, feminised, it was also made up of more than a hundred complete political novices. In The Candidates, author Étienne Ollion follows an ethnographic journey among these new MPs, while drawing on massive digital data analysed with artificial intelligence methods. The result is a gripping story about their discovery of this peculiar world, which sheds lights on pressing contemporary debates about democratic rejuvenation.

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9780197665954

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"<""Painstakingly researched, rigorously argued, and beautifully written, this book not only offers an insightful deep dive into the often-paradoxical world of French politics but also, and as importantly, a way of understanding and explicating the relationship between political trajectory, experience, and actual practice all over the world.>"" Javier Auyero, University of Texas at Austin <""There is a new enemy in many Western democracies today: the ""career politician.>"" Will the insurgent political new-comers who attack the status quo in so many capitals around the world succeed? Through an unusual combination of ethnography, in-depth interviews, and computational methods, Étienne Ollion offers the most authoritative answer to this question I've yet seen. His book offers new theoretical insight, rigorous empirical inquiry, and a compelling new model for how social science can be done."" Chris Bail, Duke University <""Ollion deftly mobilizes a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methods to show how, in spite of this striking renewal of personnel, an institutionalized <""waiting line>"" continued to regulate access to the levers of power. The demonstration is brilliant and essential, with implications for the study of politics everywhere.>"" Marion Fourcade, UC Berkeley"

"<""Painstakingly researched, rigorously argued, and beautifully written, this book not only offers an insightful deep dive into the often-paradoxical world of French politics but also, and as importantly, a way of understanding and explicating the relationship between political trajectory, experience, and actual practice all over the world.>"" Javier Auyero, University of Texas at Austin <""There is a new enemy in many Western democracies today: the ""career politician.>"" Will the insurgent political new-comers who attack the status quo in so many capitals around the world succeed? Through an unusual combination of ethnography, in-depth interviews, and computational methods, 'Etienne Ollion offers the most authoritative answer to this question I've yet seen. His book offers new theoretical insight, rigorous empirical inquiry, and a compelling new model for how social science can be done."" Chris Bail, Duke University <""Ollion deftly mobilizes a wide range of qualitative and quantitative methods to show how, in spite of this striking renewal of personnel, an institutionalized <""waiting line>"" continued to regulate access to the levers of power. The demonstration is brilliant and essential, with implications for the study of politics everywhere.>"" Marion Fourcade, UC Berkeley"

Author Information

Étienne Ollion is a CNRS Research Director and Professor of Sociology at l'École Polytechnique.

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