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A Comparative Study of the Presidential Election Process in France and

America with an Emphasis to the Similarities and Differences

Research · December 2016

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.23626.82881

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 Sultan Qaboos University
College of Economic and Political Science

A Comparative Study of the Presidential

Election Process in France and America with
an Emphasis to the Similarities and Differences

Submitted by: Maryam Said Al-Kharusi

Political Sciences Programme

Corse:( POLS3907) COMPARATIVE POLITICAL SYSTEMS

Submission Date: 11-12-2016

1
Table of Content

1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………….…………...2

2. Brief historical background, aims and objectives of democratic elections…………………2

3. Analysis of French political system vs. American political system……………………….4

4. Process of the French and American Presidential Elections………………………………5

5. Similarities and differences of the French and American Presidential Elections…6

6. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………11

7. References……………………………………...………………………………………….13

8. Appendix………………………………………..…………………………………………14

2
1. Introduction

A comparative study of French and American Presidential election process, its similarities
and differences are widely discussed in this research paper. The political system evolution in
historic perspective, democratic process of the election, political and social systems are dealt
in a detailed manner. This paper compares and contrasts institutions, political structures,
political parties, and political issues which impact whole election process. This research
based paper, in order to give a vivid picture of the political set-up in France and the USA, get
beyond platitudes and common errors to discover common similarities as well as profound
differences. All aspects of French and the US political system, their impact on the voters in
relation to historical, cultural, economic and institutional factors are all explored and dealt
extensively. This paper presents the real picture of the French and US elections with
statistical and figurative analysis while giving historical perspectives. In order to discuss the
election process and issues, the constitutions of both the countries and the provisions
provided by the constitution in the process of Presidential elections in both the countries, the
books of the contemporary authors, articles and presentations of the eminent scholars on
Politics, official websites of France and the US, and numerous audio-visual presentations are
read and the reading texts are used for the purpose of this research paper.

This paper presents the form and role of the Presidential elections of two super democracies
i.e. France and the USA. It also deals the American and French understanding of democracy,
election process and their direct or indirect involvement throughout. Besides American
perception of France and the French perception of the United States in relation to their
political and social systems is discussed at length and breadth. A detailed description of the
two political models (French and American); their impact on the contemporary world of
democratic counties is made. Both the political systems, methods and processes of the
election and related concerns in the citizens are given while making this comparative study.

The achievement of the objectives of this paper in pursuit of researcher‟s goal, a qualitative
analysis is made to define election process. A wide range of sources were used to evolve at a
concrete picture of different aspects of the presidential election system in both countries. The
sources used were given above. This paper extensively covers brief background about
political system, the presidential candidate conditions, election process, voters' conditions,
campaign, campaign finance, debates, opinion polls, turnout in the elections and the results in
the current elections.

2. Brief historical background, aims and objectives of democratic elections

Election as a tool was first used in ancient Athens. The office holders were chosen by a lot
system. Most political offices were filled using this system. Elections were used not only
Athens but also in Rome1. The process of election was prevalent throughout the medieval

1
Article on ancient Greek democracy www.historyextra.com/romans/elections

3
period. They were meant to select a ruler, for instance, the Holy Roman Emperor and the
Pope. Ancient Indians as well as Arabs used elections to select their kings and caliphs.

Election is a method used for the purpose of choosing a candidate for the function of a state,
organization, club etc. by casting vote by the individuals of country, state, region and place.
Election is a formal procedure to accept or reject a candidate. As per the estimations, more
than a billion people in the world voted in the competitive democratic elections in order to
elect the representatives and policy makers around the world for various institutions in policy
and decision making.2 Elections have been in place and they have been wide spread since 17th
century especially in Europe and North America in order to appoint a candidate for a public
office representing the government of a state. The subjects of the state vote and choose the
right candidate with the options available. For the purpose of election, there must be
contestants otherwise it is not a real electoral process. Elections are of different types. They
are unrestricted elections, general elections, direct and indirect elections, and single and list
elections. Elections, as many political scholars viewed, especially in the western countries,
must meet the human rights standards and requirements that are contained in the Charter of
Human Rights. Election is "human right and freedom to participate in the community affairs
management in which he lives in it." In the last century (the 20th) there had been waves of
democratization that led to elections of some kind elections, but about half of the world only
witnessed democratic and competitive elections. Nerveless, the rest of the elections are not
described like them.3

The primary aim of the elections is to reach political participation of the citizens which in
turn leads to political and social stability. This reduces the monopoly in decision making by
certain individuals in the society. In general, the parliamentary system emphasizes the
freedom and rights of the citizens. On the other hand, the elections provide the required
legitimacy of political power. Elections ensure the representation of the political power of the
community in all classes, sects and trends through individuals to represent them and
participate in the decision. Thus, popular representation facilitates the task of political power
to take crucial decisions at crucial historical situations. The responsibility is shared through
representation in the process of decision making.

3. Analysis of French political system vs. American political system

France takes pride in democracy. The constitution gives provision for multi-party system. In
order to comprehend the election process of France and the USA, it is fundamental to have
knowledge of the political party system in both the countries. For many people other than
French, it is quite confusing to understand the composition of political party system.
According to the Article 4 of the French Constitution, “Political parties and groups shall
contribute to the usage of suffrage. They shall be feely established and carry of their
activities freely. They shall comply with the principles of national sovereignty and

2
Richard Rose, ed. International Encyclopedia of Elections (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, a division of
Congressional Quarterly Inc. 2000), XIX.
3
@. (n.d.). Freedom House. Retrieved October 27, 2016, from http://freedomhouse.org/

4
democracy.” France has multiparty system unlike the USA. Different parties become part of
two major coalitions. They are called “on the centre-left” and on the centre-right. The centre-
left is led by “socialist party”. It is composed of a coalition. The parties that include the
socialist party are “the Greens”, “the left Party” and the “radical Party of the Left”. A
comprehensive history of these parties is not discussed here. The next biggest coalition party
is called “on the cetre-right”. This is led by “the Republicans”. A third of the citizens vote for
the extremist parties. The conservative party is the largest party in France. It is called as “Les
Republicans” known as the “Republicans”. This party includes traditional conservatives,
social liberals and neo-conservative right.

Many parties evolve but they cannot have their existence. So, they merge in the centre-left or
on the centre-right parties. Some of the nationwide represented parties in France are: National
Front, France Arise, Centrist Alliance Christian Democratic Party, Citizen and Republican
Movement, Democratic Movement, Europe Ecology, French Communist Party, Modern Left,
Radical Party, United Republic, New Deal and so on. There are several minor parties apart
from the listed major parties. The fact is that, all these parties are independent on their own
but become a coalition either with “on the centre-left” or “on the centre-right”. Therefore, the
two major coalition parties in France are „On the right‟ and „on the left‟ (about-
france.com/political-parties.htm)

On the other hand in the USA, the party system is partially different set-up. All the parties
have to be ballot-qualified. The parties have to meet the requirement. They must get certain
percentage of votes in order to become part and parcel of the qualified parties. There were
214 state-level parties as of April 2016 (www.ballotpedia.org). Some parties are recognized
in some states and vice versa. But there are only two parties that have recognition in all the
states of the USA. They are “Democratic Party” and Republican Party”. These two parties
share the majority of the total seats. Libertarian Party, Green Party and Constitution Party are
the next in ranking with good number of seats. The rest of the parties are minor parts with
one or a few seats only. But the ballot-qualified lists of the parties vary from time to time.
The two outstanding parties are the Democratic Party with its counterpart the Republican
Party.

4. Process of the French and American Presidential Elections

Both the French and American Presidential Election process is very lengthy. There are
various stages. This part of the papers describes the process of the President elections in both
the democratic super powers of the world.

The French President, the head of the state, is elected directly by the citizens for tenure of
five years after “the referendum of the Direct Election of the President of the French
Republic in 1962”. According to this referendum, the citizens are allowed to elect the
President by direct vote rather than an electoral college. The candidate who contested can
serve any number of times prior to 2008. According to the constitutional change,
“constitutional law Modernisation of the Institutions of the Fifth Republic, 2008”, the
President cannot serve more than two times (about-france.com/political-parties.htm).

5
The presidential candidate who intends to participate in the elections must possess certain
qualifications as per the regulations of the “French Electoral Code”. First and foremost the
candidate must be a natural born French citizen. He / she must be above 23 years and be
eligible to vote and must not have any criminal background. He/she has to register in the
electoral rolls. He/she must conform to the military service obligations and of course, must
have moral standing and self-dignity. He / she must be nominated by at least 500 qualified
elected officials. Of course, he/she must have enough funding to contest in the elections.

As per the electoral system, the presidential elections are conducted in two different phases.
The first round is open to all who meet the requirements as stated above. He/she must get
simple majority to win the elections. If no majority is acquired, then, the second phase of
elections takes place which is called “runoff” between both the candidates. This happens after
a fortnight of the first stage. The winner will be sworn in as the new President and later he
will announce his team.

In the campaign of the elections finance and funding plays a crucial role. In order to avoid the
flow of money to bribe the voters, the Government strictly regulates the finance used for the
campaign. Prior to the elections (3 months before), no paid commercial advertisement in any
type of media is not allowed. Alternatively all the contesters of the parties are given equal
opportunities to air their advertisements free of charge. All the campaign expenditures have
got a limit and there is a special body to look into all the campaign donations and the
expenditure is capped by the commission. This commission audits all the election
expenditure. It is called “French National Commission on Campaign Accounts and Political
Party Financing (CNCCFP). This commission is an independent body with a set of rules and
regulations of its duties and functions. There are two ways of political parties funding. They
are private and public financing but this paper does not elaborate the party funding and
limitations of expenditure. However, if any party violates the financial obligations according
the law of 1988, severe punishments are imposed.4

In France, electoral campaigns by the political parties play an important role in the election
process of the President. Any candidate contesting for the election can defend and promote
his/her ideologies without being a part of political party theoretically. But in practice, the
presidential candidate is endorsed by the political parties.

The following gives a vivid picture of the election process of the US Presidential elections.
The election process in the USA is a typical set-up too. America stands out amongst few
nations in choosing the presidential candidates through well- known vote over primary
election system as elections play prominent role in the contemporary politics. Decision-
making of the voters is much debated by select political science research.5

4 th
Lawn 88.226/88-227 on political life transperancy, March 11 , 1998.
5
Cohen, Marty. The Party Decides: Presidential Nominations before and after Reform. Chicago: University of
Chicago, 2008.

6
The Presidential elections take place once in every four years in the USA. Election Day falls
on the first Tuesday of after the first Monday during the month of November. For instance,
the Presidential elections were held on 8th, November, 2016. The process of election has
different phases. At first the candidates have to participate in “state primaries and caucuses”6.
Both these have got common purpose but run differently. These help in choosing the right
political nominees for the elections. Next, the groups give speeches to convince the citizens
to join the groups after which they conduct voting to get the delegates for the candidates.
Primaries and caucuses are either “open,” “closed,” “semi-open” and “semi-closed”. At this
stage the voters can vote for any candidate without including the parties. In the next stage
“nominating conventions” take place. In this stage, the delegates of primaries and caucuses
participate in the conventions. From the delegates, the parties select the “super delegates”.
The presidential candidates choose their vice-president candidates. Another interesting fact
about the American election process is that in the general election though the voters vote
directly, the tally of their popular vote cannot determine the winner. The method to establish
a conclusion of winning to pass through the “electoral college” by getting majority electoral
votes from different states. In case no party receives majority then the President is chosen by
the House of Representatives. The Vice-President is chosen by the Senate.

The candidates who want to contest in the American election must fulfil certain requirements.
They are: he/she must be a citizen of the USA who is a natural-born. He/she must have lived
in the country for fourteen years and then be more than thirty five years old. All those who
have these requirements are eligible in the election contest. But, the most important rule is
that the candidates have to register with the FEC (Federal Election Commission). This is very
important in the process of fund raising.

There is a special election process typically followed in the President elections. They are
explained below. Firstly, the candidate has to announce his/her intentions by the spring of the
year. In the summer primary and caucus debates are held. This happens from January to June
of the year in which election is going to be held. During this period the parties conduct
primaries and caucuses. The next important stage is from July to early September. This is the
crucial time where the candidates take part in the debate process raising their voice to the
citizens. In early November the elections take place.

The American Presidential process is very lengthy. All the process from announcing candidates contesting
in the elections to till the sworn in ceremony into office, takes two years approximately. In this process,
both the parties will spend millions of dollars for campaigning and move a lot debating. A lot of people are
involved and they use the print and electronic media to present their conventions. There are agencies that
get campaign funding. While both the parties (Democratic and Republican), the other minor parties play

6
State primaries are run by state and local governments. Voting occurs through secret ballot. Caucuses are
private meetings run by political parties. In most, participants divide themselves into groups according to the
candidate they support, with undecided voters forming into a group of their own.

7
their role since 1872. The other minor parties are: Green Party, the Libertarians, Natural law Party and so
on. These parties educate the people about different issues of the country. There may be a day when the
third party evolves but it is still a dream.

As discussed above, there will be a lot of candidates to get on the ballot during the party primaries and
conventions to have nominees for the parties. Media spends a lot of time in covering the primaries and a
lot of money is also spent. People and the candidates are eager to know who will get early lead in the
process.

The other important aspect to be noted is that different state have different rules in case of
voting requirements .i.e. ins some states voters have to register and the vice versa is applied
in some other state and this is called open primary. There are also closed primaries like in
Maryland State for instance and semi-primary also exists to get a ballot. Then, the caucuses
also vary from state to state. Twelve different states use the caucuses. Depending on the
number of voters in each state, the number of delegates varies too. Throughout the process a
lot of one-to-one debates, speeches take place for campaigning and give their reason how
they are the suitable candidates and what they would contribute for the country. These days,
all types of electronic media are exploited to get support. A lot of blogging takes place too.
As the election date gets closer the Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates debate a lot
to win the hearts of the voters and at the same time they will present their plan of action to
lead the country in the future. In the process of American elections, opinion polls also play an
interesting role and create a lot of excitement. The agencies call the voters and give
questionnaires to get the opinions. In most cases the margin of error is only two per cent.
Such is the contest in the American election.

As stated above, the Election Day is on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November
first week. The voters must be above 18 to cast their vote and be the citizens of the country.
All those people without any ailments can cast their vote. Most of the states insist on the
registration of the voter and a few states do not press on the registration. The voters who are
away for some reasons, they can use their advance absentee ballot by sending the ballot
papers by mail before the polls close. Each state gets different number of votes in Electoral
College. The total number is 538 which are distributed to states according to the number of
eligible votes in that particular state. After counting the ballot whoever gets 270 of the votes,
he/she will be announced as the future President of the country. In case of tie, the House of
Representatives choose the President.

Unfortunately in the process of election certain unwanted things do happen in any country
such as rigging, voter fraud, paying money, influencing the people by using wrong ways. It is
not exception in case of the USA too and cheating does exist in many forms. In order to
overcome such issues of cheating, the Justice Dept and the nominated groups by both the
parties keep watching to avoid such cheating occurrences. If such violations are noticed, there
are very high penalties in the US and the fraudsters can be sentenced or imprisonment is a
common process.

8
Thus, the process of elections in France and the USA are always exciting. There will be a lot
of buzz throughout on Presidential contenders of both these democratic countries in the
world.

5. Similarities and differences of the French and American Presidential Elections

Till very recently the media was broadcasting about the American elections where Mr. Trump
is elected as the President of the USA. The elections were held in in November 2016. The
French elections are on the way soon. The first round of elections is going to be held on 23d
April and the run-off will be on 7th May, 2017. It is very common to have a lot of buzz about
both the super powers virtually as the presidential election issues are very highly debated not
only in these two countries but even across the world for various reasons may it be political
or economic. In the following section, the similarities and the differences of the election
process of the Presidential election are discussed implicitly and widely. It is evident that in
both countries the President is the top most figures in the Government. The ultimate powers
are vested in their hands. However, when scrutinizing the election process of the election of
the Presidents, there is a great difference though similarities do exist. The thought and the
philosophy is almost the same but the rules and regulations of the process of the election do
differ as both countries follow different campaign strategies, procedures and policies.

The political party system is very identical as in both countries there are two major parties
though minor parties exist. In France two major parties are centre-right and centre-left where
both are rivalries and serious contestants. In the same way, in the USA too there are two
major parties – Democratic and Republicans (other minor parties exist). In practice both the
parties in either country do not differ much in their policies while being the ruling party but
when it comes to the Presidential elections, both the parties in both the countries fight fiercely
to win the elections. This indicates that there are prominent parallels and share the differences
at the same time. In both the contexts, the main goal is to get the chair – White House and
Elysee Palace.

In both the countries there are very different systems of election process. For instance, in the
USA, election takes place in all fifty states to get specific votes. It is called the “electoral
college”. This makes very difficult for the third front creation as there will be huge
competition. Sometimes as many political scientists view that because of this system, the
final results are affected. On the contrary, in France, the elections are national. Elections are
held at the same time. There aren‟t electoral sub-units. Unless a party gets 50% of the ballot
vote, there is a chance for the second turn of elections.

During the last election (November, 2016), the presidential candidates in the USA
concentrated more on domestic problems rather than foreign policy. There was a debate on
unemployment, advancing health care, immigrants from other neighbour countries and so on.
Mr. Trump was claiming job security, reduction in immigrants and healthcare. In the past
there was importance on foreign policy either in relation to Afghanistan and Iraq. In the same

9
way, French parties are focussing on curbing unemployment, reducing the cost of living and
creating job security to the citizens.

In the US the presidential debates sometimes cross the personal identity and self-dignity. The
opponents even intrude into the personal aspects of religion, faith, and personal affairs. The
Americans have witness such bitter dialogues during the campaign. Both Mr. Trump and
Mrs. Clinton were literally abusing each other. Such instances rarely occur in the political
election campaigning process. Private lives were paraded in the last elections in the US and
they undermine each other digging each other. But such instances rarely occur in France and
the presidential candidates do not probe into the private affairs and privacy, for instance, Mr.
Sarkozy divorcing his wife and remarrying a model.

The other differences that cannot be age limit to contest. Anyone who is a natural-born
citizen of France needs to be above 18 years whereas in the USA it is 35 years. Any one less
than 35 years old, cannot contest in the election to be the President. There has been a debate
for quite long time on this aspect in the US. As discussed above, both the Presidents occupy
important position in the Government in both the systems. The French President is elected by
direct suffrage while the American President is elected by the Electoral College. Besides both
the Presidents are in power for same tenure i.e. four years. In both the cases, they can be re-
elected for the second time. Both the Presidents have almost similar powers but there are
many differences at the same time. This paper does not talk about the powers vested in them
in a detailed manner.

There is another distinction in relation to party funding for the campaign. A lot of money is
spent by the parties for the primaries, caucus and debates. Whereas in France, the amount
spent is monitored. There is a special branch to check and follow up. For instance, almost one
billion was spend for the elections. Though a generous limit is there in France, the candidates
cannot take the gifts or party funding from unions, companies or from any other source while
in the USA the party funding is collected from agencies and companies. But in both the
countries, campaigning starts well in advance and this leads to excess spending for the
election campaign. However, the parities in America spend billions in the process of elections
as the political donors generously donate for the party fund. The Centrer for Responsive
Politics monitors the money spent during the election process. Therefore, American election
process is the most expensive one in the world.

The party system in France is different from America. Muti party system is followed in
France while dual party system is followed in the USA. The resuts are declared relatively
quicker in France as it falls almost in single time zone unlike America.

The French and American election systems share nearly the same voter's conditions. The
American voter must hold US citizenship, meet the residency requirements in his/ her
province, some provinces require qualified voters to have constantly lived in his/her province

10
at least 30 days.7 Also, he/she must be 18 years old and register in the electoral register; some
provinces require qualified voters to register within 30 days or more before the Election
Day.8 On the other side, the French voter must his age be18 years old, has French nationality,
enjoy civil and political rights and his/her name be located on the electoral rolls.9

The American voters indirectly elect their president via the Electoral College structure, where
the Electoral College' members directly elect the US president. The Bipartisan Policy Center
has estimated the percent of eligible voters, turnout was: 2000, 54.2%; in 2004 60.4%; 2008
62.3%; 2012 57.5%; 2016 57%.10 Nevertheless, the voter turnout this year (2016) dipped to
nearly its lowest point in two decades.11

On the other side in France, people elect the president through a direct ballot in both rounds
(if there's second round) unlike American people. The percentage of voter turnout has been
higher than the US during the Fifth Republic presidential elections. In 2012 election, the
turnout in the second round was also over 80% just like of the first round.12 The abstinence
ratio of eligible voters is around 17.7%.13

In the USA the results of the elections can be challenged and appealed if there is any
manipulation in voting machines, hacking, rigging and mismanagement of counting votes
happens. For instance Mrs. Clinton was claiming about the rigging incident in three states in
the last elections in November 2016. In order to challenge, one need to file an election
petition and the same rule is applied in France too.

6. Conclusion

This paper evaluated all the aspects related to the election process in France and the USA.
The aspects primarily dealt are: the constitutional provisions for the elections; political party
systems in both the countries; requirements of the presidential candidates; the primaries,
caucuses and debates; financing the elections and the existing norms in both the countries; the

7
Riepe, P. (n.d.). Voting Requirements for Presidential Elections. Retrieved October 30, 2016, from
http://peopleof.oureverydaylife.com/voting-requirements-presidential-elections-5703.html
8
ppt
9
Nationale, A. (n.d.). Voting - General elections in France - 2012. Retrieved October 30, 2016, from
http://www.elections-legislatives.fr/en/voting.asp

10
Bialik, C. (2016, November 11). Voter Turnout Fell, Especially In States That Clinton Won. Retrieved
November 25, 2016, from http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/voter-turnout-fell-especially-in-states-that-
clinton-won/
11
Wallace, G. (2016, November 30). Voter turnout at 20-year low in 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2016, from
http://edition.cnn.com/2016/11/11/politics/popular-vote-turnout-2016/
12
Tucker, J. (2012, May 21). 2012 Post-Election Report: French Presidential Election - The Monkey Cage.
Retrieved November 01, 2016, from http://themonkeycage.org/2012/05/2012-post-election-report-french-
presidential-election/
13
ppt

11
duration of the election process; the similarities and the differences and the perspectives were
widely dealt. Thus, the main objective of the paper in projecting the election process in
France and America is achieved.

12
7. References

Books

Bogdanor, V. and Butler, D. (1983) “Democracy and Elections”. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.

Duverger, M. (1954) “Political Parties”. New York: Wiley.

Jackman, R. (1987) “Political Institutions and Voter Turnout in Industrial Democracies”

American Political Science Review 81: 405-23.

Rosenstone, S., Behr, R.L. and Lazarus, E.H. (1996) “Third Parties in America”. Princeton:
Princeton University Press.

Boller, P. F. (2004): “Presidential Campaigns: From George Washington toGeorge W.

Bush”. Oxford and New York, Oxford University Press.

Freedman, P.; M. Franz; K. Goldstein (2004): “Campaign Advertising and Democratic

Citizenship”, American Journal of Political Science, 48 (4): 723-741.

Websites

http://www.librarypoint.org/presidential_election_how_it_works

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/vote/presidential_elections.shtml

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/government/howthepresidentiselected2.htm

https://www.usa.gov/election

https://prezi.com/45uyxn8elyy_/comparison-between-american-and-french-political-parties/

http://www.librarypoint.org/presidential_election_how_it_works

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/vote/presidential_elections.shtml

http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/government/howthepresidentiselected2.htm

https://www.usa.gov/election

https://prezi.com/45uyxn8elyy_/comparison-between-american-and-french-political-parties/

https://www.usa.gov/election

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 8. Appendix

Source: Internet

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