[5th MEB]

I was looking at the charts; couldn’t make heads or tails of it, of course I don’t know the party designations or the way they lean. Do even the French understand French politics

[Cincinna]

Red = LEFT: Socialist, Communist and worse.
Blue = RIGHT

Now that the Socialists control all the power in France, when the s**t hits the fan, as it most certainly will, the blame will all fall on them.

[wideawake]

The charts say that in 2007, the center-right parties had a 60% majority in the French legislature. In 2012, the positions are almost exactly reversed - the left parties now have a 59% majority.

French politics are less confusing than Germany's - 94% of seats belong either to the democratic socialist coalition or the conservative coalition.

In Germany, about one-third of the vote is fragmented between parties that do not fit easily into either camp. About 10% are liberals (by American standards that means socially leftist and fiscally conservative), 10% are unreconstructed communists and 10% are hardcore environmentalists.

At one point there was talk of a coalition government between the democratic socialists, the environmentalists and the liberals - that is a coalition idea incomprehensible in the context of US politics.