French National Election Study, 1997

Conducted between the first and second ballots of the parliamentary election, which took place in France on May 25 and June 1, 1997. The intent of this study was to provide data for the analysis of electoral behavior. Information was gathered on respondents' interest in politics, political identification, participation, vote decision and behavior during the first ballot of the election, intention to take part in the second ballot and, if so, for whom they intended to vote, and prediction about the political composition of the parliament and the government after the election. Respondents were asked about their attitudes toward campaign proposals, including civil servant staff cuts, a guaranteed minimum wage raise, creation of 350,000 public jobs, a reduction of the work week to 35 hours, and relief of the social security contributions paid by firms. Other questions probed respondents' perceptions of the political proposals of the Left and RPR-UDF (Union pour la Democratie Francaise-Rassemblement pour la Republique) parties and the capability of these parties to solve current economic, political, and social problems in France. The survey also collected information on respondents' voting decisions in the March 1993 parliamentary election and the 1995 presidential election, and gauged respondents' satisfaction with Jacque Chirac's politics since his 1995 election and support for Alain Juppe and Lionel Jospin. In addition to the major political themes, the study investigated respondents' perceptions of the economy, focusing on European Union (EU) issues such as the single currency, the strength of the EU in relation to independent member states, advantages to France of being an EU member, EU influence on social welfare, and economic growth in France, as well as EU influence on protection against economic globalization. Other items covered respondents' opinions about national identification, democracy, religious tolerance, racism, the death penalty, nationalist tendencies toward immigrants and immigration law, the education system, trade unions, state economic policy, solidarity, privatization, public utilities, liberalism, the role of strikes, and respondents' solidarity with strike movements in November-December 1995. Demographic data collected on respondents include gender, age, marital status, education level, social status, employment status, occupation, religion, and, for Catholics, degree of religiosity. Some questions concerned respondents' relatives, including political leaning, employment status, occupation, and nationality.