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

Neo-Bonapartism? A parallel between Nicolas Sarkozy and Napoleon III
majority of voters in both chambers). Sarkozy 2010’s stand firm against the social protests
resembles the 2009’s one dealing with the universities reforming. As a matter of fact, on the
22 nd of January 2009, Sarkozy unveiled his reforming program of the French universities during
his speech related to “the launching of the reflection on a National Strategy of Research and
Innovation”. As explained by Clift, the president’s main arguments were the expansion of the
number “of competitiveness poles, and also expanded the research tax credit (credit impot
recherché CIR) increasing from 10 to 30 % the state’s reimbursement of a firm research
expenses on research” (2009), but also the promotion of financial autonomy, Anglo-Saxon way,
of the institutions of higher institutions and what it implies in terms of state disengagement in
that domain (thus the opening of education to the private funds). Evans for his part underlined
the president’s saying during this speech that “the present top-down framework as' infantilising
and paralysing'” (2009). This shifting from the French tradition according to which education is
a public service to be backed up by the state to maintain an equal access, accordingly far from
the Anglo-Saxon universities’ competitiveness which ends up in high tuition fees was simply
revolutionary. Such a privatization was in view of that strongly opposed and resisted, but again
and following the Bonapartist authoritarian liberalism’s principle, the law was forcefully
adopted.
To close this chapter, Sarkozy already unveiled the next domain he intends to reform starting
from June 2011: the health sector. His declaration did not bring any additional information, yet
one might guess that it will follow the education reform’s path (that is the liberalization of the
sector and its opening to the private funds).
A website dedicated to this project is available starting Dec 7 th 2010 at: http://www.aui.ma/personal/~Y.Assaoui/
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