Jacques GERSTLE - 1965-2007 Presidential Campaigns : From Mr. X to Mrs. Royal

Pouvoirs n°119 - La démocratie sous contrôle médiatique - novembre 2006 - p.29-40

In order to deal with the power of the media and their growing importance in the presidential campaigns of the Fifth Republic, a distinction should be made between the selection of candidates and their promotion or elimination in the course of the electoral competition. With regard to the former, the article considers operation “Mr. X” before the 1965 campaign and the emergence of Ségolène Royal for 2007. This will illustrate the intervention of the media in the making of a candidate while the case of Ségolène Royal highlights more the importance of opinion polls. As for the promotion or the elimination of the candidates, the contribution of the media comes from the way they frame the candidates in terms of personal traits or political stakes but, more importantly, from the conjunction or disjunction they allow between the communication controlled by the candidates and the information they broadcast. Résumé

Référence électonique : Jacques GERSTLE, "1965-2007 Presidential Campaigns : From Mr. X to Mrs. Royal", Pouvoirs, revue française d’études constitutionnelles et politiques, n°119, 2006, p.29-4. Consulté le 17-02-2012. URL : http://www.revue-pouvoirs.fr/1965-2007-Presidential-Campaigns.html