Neo-Bonapartism? A parallel between Nicolas Sarkozy and ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Neo-Bonapartism? A parallel between Nicolas Sarkozy and Napoleon III share of public finance and in extenso the legitimacy of the pretender it projected into the 2007’s presidential race, the newly elected president did not “wish to see a strong UMP leader in his stead: there would be no new party president; Sarkozy was replaced (pending a party congress in autumn 2007) by an interim leadership consisting of Pierre Méhaignerie and Jean- Claude Gaudin (each too old to pose a significant problem) and his personal henchman Brice Hortefeux” (Knapp & Sawicki, 2007). At this point, Sarkozy’s previously described federative approach toward all political factions coupled to his disengagement vis a vis his own party is a suitable state of affairs in a hyper-presidency, but could cost him the running for a second mandate. Unlike Napoleon III the Emperor, the 21 st century President still has to undergo the burden of presidential elections (traditionally dominated by the duality Left/Right in France). Back to the personalization of politics, if some features needed to be entrenched to it, those identified by Duhamel are interesting to underline: “voluntarism, ascendancy, eloquence, rhetoric of change, bubbling vitality, risky passion of initiatives, but insurance of a strong character, a determination of brass, a bulimia of activism and a taste of command, here are the components of this XXI century Bonapartism” (2009). In fewer words, the oligarchic conception of power proper to Napoleon III and Sarkozy is hermetical not to say reluctant to any party identification as such. In parallel, two strong allies are common to the two leaders’ conception of political governance: religion and either the army or the police (both being instruments of the state’s monopoly of use of force). Religion to start with is the pedestal of any form of Bonapartism since it is the natural extension of its inherent over-conservatism. The Bonapartist saying that “a society without religion is like a ship without compass” resonates with Sarkozy’s 2007 statement A website dedicated to this project is available starting Dec 7 th 2010 at: http://www.aui.ma/personal/~Y.Assaoui/ 28
Neo-Bonapartism? A parallel between Nicolas Sarkozy and Napoleon III according to which “No society can exist without morals; there is no good moral without religion; religion is accordingly the only basis that provides the state with a firm and lasting support” (both citations were retrieved by Duhamel in his “A Contemporary First Consul”, 2009). Again, a historical comparative perspective is to be adopted. As stated by Gildea, “in the decade after 1848 organized religion, and especially the Catholic Church, was rehabilitated as a principle of order and authority in a turbulent world” (2003). As a result, Napoleon III took several measures that rehabilitated the grasp of the religious over the French life. First of all, he reinstated religious programs at school, before calling upon and favoring the development of religious congregations, that “reached a high point of recruitment in the 1855-1859 years” (Gildea, 2003). Napoleon’s Empire was also committed to the defense of the Church’s interests even with military means, and particularly when Napoleon III sent several garrisons of soldiers to Rome to restore the authority of Pius IX. However, this harmonious collaboration ended up abruptly on December 1864 after the Pope’s Syllabus of errors which was very critical of authoritarianism and took a stand toward the “liberalization of politics”. This pamphlet was censored in France by the Emperor and leads him to take position for the Italian reunification camp against the Pope’s later on, as reported by Gildea (2003). Yet, and independently of these troubled relations with Rome, religion was awarded a central place in the imperial ruling and consequently supported the regime’s obsession with some of its key concepts, such as order and morals. Sarkozy’s same mania for discipline pushed him quite naturally in the following of Napoleon’s III footsteps. “Unlike any French president in decades, Mr. Sarkozy sees a more open role for religion in French society”, asserted Marquand (2008), to the extent that some observers A website dedicated to this project is available starting Dec 7 th 2010 at: http://www.aui.ma/personal/~Y.Assaoui/ 29
Page 1 and 2: Senior Capstone for International S
Page 3 and 4: Prologue Neo-Bonapartism? A paralle
Page 5 and 6: Neo-Bonapartism? A parallel between
Page 27: Neo-Bonapartism? A parallel between
Page 79 and 80:
Neo-Bonapartism? A parallel between
Page 81 and 82:
Page 83 and 84:
Page 85 and 86:
Page 87 and 88:
Page 89 and 90:
Page 91 and 92:
Page 93 and 94:
Page 95 and 96:
Page 97 and 98:
Page 99 and 100:
Conclusion Neo-Bonapartism? A paral
Page 101 and 102:
Page 103 and 104:
Page 105 and 106:
Page 107 and 108:
Page 109 and 110:
Page 111 and 112:
Page 113 and 114:
Page 115 and 116:
Page 117 and 118:
Page 119 and 120:
Page 121 and 122:
Page 123 and 124:
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
show all

Neo-Bonapartism? A parallel between Nicolas Sarkozy and ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?