The French Communist Party in the 1960s

The thesis of the decline (or end) of ideology in the politics of western nations is by now a familiar one. It deals with the waning influence of ideological appeals as socio-economic class differences are mitigated in modern industrial societies. As productivity expands, the general standard of living improves, social mobility and optimism increase, and voters are less attracted to a political style which stresses confrontation and irreconcilable interests. Rival elites, faced with greater public passivity, are more inclined to seek accommodation and compromise in representing their respective clienteles. There is a growing literature discussing the validity, limitations, and qualifications of the thesis.1 Rather than review these in the limited space available, I will concentrate in this paper on a single party, and try to illustrate the combination of continuity and refinement in the formulation of the party's ideological stance

Accommodation · Communism · Compromise · Ideology · Optimism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · French Historical and Cultural Studies · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology

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