Internet Resources on French Politics

There are not a lot of English-language based resources on French politics on the Internet. In part, that's a linguistic issue, but it also reflects the fact that the French developed their own system, Minitel, and thus have been slower than, say, the Germans or British, to join the Internet. Here are some of the better ones. Most combine French and English language sources.

General Sources

The Tocqueville Center in Washington DC started an Internet service in 1996 to publicize its own analyses, mostly on French foreign and domestic policy.

AdmiNet is a French-based service that has more material on the country than any other. However, because it is French-based, it has relatively little material in English.

WESS (West European Specialists Section) is a source maintained by American librarians and contains a good mixture of French and English language sources on France and other major European countries.

H-NET/H-FRANCE is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (hence H-NET) and is used mostly by historians. H-France is one of its most active discussion groups, which also maintains a home page with some material on current political trends.

French television has a web site in which it includes background material on current issues. This link will put you in at the "top" of the site, since specific material at it changes with events.

President Chirac now has a home page. It's all in French, but you can send (envoi) him email. He speaks English.

So, too, does the prime minister, Lionel Jospin.

News Sources

There is no regular source of news on France in English such as those you can find on Russia, China, India, and other countries. Most major French newspapers are available on line, but can only be read using Adobe Acrobat.

Comparative Online Home

Country Resources

France Update

Town Hall

GOVT 133 Home Page

Email me

My home page

Department Home Page