Blue in Green: The French Green Voter in the 2012 Presidential Elections

Europe-Écologie-Les Verts (EELV) has been part of the French party system for thirty years, running for all presidential and legislative elections since, securing parliamentary representation and being part of coalition government twice, from 1997 to 2002, and since May 2012, following the latest presidential and legislative elections. The recent electoral success of the party, at the 2004 regional and 2009 European elections have turned scholarly attention to the party’s strategy and electoral dynamic. However this revived interest has not been accompanied by multivariate surveys on the socioeconomic and ideological profile of the French Green voter. Using data from the nationwide 2012 CEVIPOF French Election Study this paper investigates the demographic and attitudinal composition of the French Green voter in the 2012 Presidential Election. Findings suggest that the EELV voter carries a distinct electoral profile, even when compared with voters of candidates of ideologically proximate parties such as the Parti Socialiste and the Front de Gauche. Left-libertarianism, support for the European Union and environmental awareness are the decisive factors on the probability of casting a Green Vote. Under the light of these findings the paper compares the electoral composition of the EELV with respective analyses of other European parties.