Steve Bastow

Front national economic policy: from neo-liberalism to protectionism

Abstract This article focuses on the changes in the economic policy of the Front National (FN) which have taken place in the last 3–4 years. It argues that the apparent switch from neo‐liberalism to protectionism by the FN must be treated with caution: protectionism per se is not new to the FN, nor can one state that neo‐liberal policies have disappeared from its economic agenda. I discuss whether changes in the field of economic policy reflect wider changes to the overall ideological configuration of the FN, arguing that such changes represent part of a wider move by the FN in the direction of a political programme espousing a ‘Third Way’ between capitalism and communism. Finally, it discusses the reasons behind the changes in both the economic policy of the party and its ideological configuration.

Le Mouvement national républicain: Moderate Right-wing Party or Party of the Extreme Right?

Abstract On 24 January 1999 a new party was formed by the former Front national (FN) number two, Bruno Mégret. The Front national–Mouvement national was subsequently renamed twice: it became the Mouvement national (MN) following the loss of a court case, and later the Mouvement national républicain (MNR). Mégret claims that the MNR is a party not of the extreme right but of the moderate right, labelled by him the ‘national right’. This is a definition with which many political analysts in France seem to have concurred. In this article Bastow analyses the extent to which the characterization is a true one. First, he outlines the context in which Mégret formed the MNR, focusing on his political background and the strategy which he previously sought to impose on the FN. An extended treatment of the policy proposals put forward by the MNR is then followed by an analysis of the extent to which these amount to a break from an ideology which can be identified as extreme right. He concludes by assessing the prospects for the MNRs success.