An Insiders’ Illiberalism: France’s Republicans and the Illiberal Temptation

Abstract

This article deals with the illiberal temptation that arises among the leaders of the French mainstream right party, Les Républicains. Studying what it calls an “insiders’ illiberalism,” it explores the discursive features of the illiberal discourse of four Republican leaders, in opposition to Marlene Laruelle’s four scripts of liberalism. By explaining how this discourse corresponds to a certain moment in the leaders’ careers, in the party’s history, and in the reconfiguration of the French party system, it shows how illiberalism can be used by established political actors to counter their political decline, and try to compensate for the failures of the ideological co-optation of the far right.