Source: Site web de l'Assemblée Nationale (France)
Populis* is extensively used by politicians and in the media. Yet, we can wonder about the meaning of the term populis*. The TrUMPo project team has analysed the uses of the French words populisme, populismes, populiste, populistes (comprised within the term populis*) in the discourses produced in the Assemblée Nationale (lower chamber of the national parliament) in 2019. When, how, and why did the members of the parliament and the government rely on populis* in the lower chamber? To answer those questions, we analyse the use of the word so as to determine the peaked times during which the word was used, and the meaning attributed to the word. We particularly focus on the conceptual meanings associated with this word, as it is used in the parliamentary context. Before reading this briefing note, please be aware that this does not take into account politicians’ speaking times and the overall number of words within each speech. The name of the parties are the names used in 2019. The occurrence of populis* is highlighted in each quote, following our own emphasis.
Peak of use:
Populis* has been used 161 times in the Assemblée Nationale in 2019.
For the sake of conciseness, the figure only shows frequencies associated with at least three occurrences of populis* per time period. We observe two peaks: one in April (27 occurrences) and one in October (30). In April, the peak is related to two major debates: the first day is April 3rd (8 occurrences), when a national debate linked to the yellow vest protest(s) occurred. The second peak is observed on April 11th (13 occurrences), during the same session: occurrences are related to a debate regarding a bill about the place of industries in French society (“la loi PACTE”). This bill deals especially with the privatization of airports in Paris. Some MPs wanted to rely on a referendum in order to answer this debate. The governmental majority used the word *populis to express their opposition:
"I find unfortunate any initiative that plays into the hands of POPULISM and fuels the contestation of parliamentary democracy” (« Je trouve malencontreuse toute initiative qui viendrait faire le jeu des POPULISMES et alimenter la contestation de la démocratie parlementaire. »), Bruno Le Maire (Minister of economy, LREM).
In October 2019, the peak happened during a debate about European asylum reform. Ludovic Mendes (rapporteur) said:
“We face a challenge as we are expected to adopt urgent solutions to organize migratory flows, while we are developing a long-term strategy. With POPULISM and nationalism on the rise, member states are paralyzed, and some governments are simply adopting inward-looking national measures to reassure public opinion” (« Nous sommes face au défi de l’adoption de solutions urgentes pour organiser les flux migratoires, tout en développant une stratégie à long terme. Avec la montée des POPULISMES et des nationalismes, les États membres sont tétanisés et certains gouvernements, pour rassurer leur opinion publique, ne font qu’adopter des mesures nationales de repli sur soi. »), Ludovic Mendes (MP, LREM).
We observe more limited or less frequent use of populis* in July, September, December (five occurrences per month) and August (zero occurrence). The latter can be explained by the parliamentary holidays.
Who talks about populis*?
Overall, 92 different individuals used the word populis*. Half of them (49) used the word only once, 29 used it twice, 14 used it three times or more. The top three of users (six uses each) includes Bruno Le Maire (Minister of Economy LREM), Dominique Potier (MP, PS) and Nicole Trisse (MP, LREM). Bruno Le Maire and Dominique Potier mostly used the term populis* during the debates of the 11th of April, as explained above (5/6 by Le Maire and 4/6 by Potier).
Number of occurrences by parties:
This part of the study takes into account the speakers’ official party; nevertheless, some ministers were independent; We chose to include them within the LREM group because they are part of the LREM government. The analysis of the use of populis* by different political parties reveals that almost half of the occurrences (78/161) come from LREM party members. The PS, second on the podium, only produced 19 occurrences. This can be explained by LREM's majority of seats in the Assemblée Nationale (308/577), which allows them to benefit from longer speaking time in the Assembly.
It may not be surprising that LREM, as the leading party, used the word populis* the most. However, the PS, which was the second most frequent user, was only the fourth largest group in the Assemblée (30 deputies). Other gaps exist: LFI was the fourth most frequent user of the term, but the sixth largest group in parliament (17 members). UDI was the fourth most frequent user, but the seventh largest party in parliament. MoDEM was the sixth most frequent user but the third largest party (42 deputies). Surprisingly, the FN is not on the list (the FN was the second-largest party in the presidential elections of 2017 and 2002, but only had 9 MPs in 2019). It appears that left-wing parties prevailed in the list of frequent users of populis*, while they had less seats than other parties in the parliament.
Parliamentary context of the occurrences:
In more than a third of cases, populis* is used during communication with the government: draft bills (“projets de loi”) (38), questions to the government (24), resulting in 62 occurrences out of 161. Occurrences were almost always observed during prepared speeches (143/161).
The target of populis*:
Most uses of populis* (86/161) are self-referential. Self-referential uses occur when the meaning of the word is not elaborated or supplemented by any illustration: it is assumed that every listener can understand it. 31 occurrences were about an action/event, 30 occurrences were about a person or group, and 15 occurrences were about a collective entity.
Example of self-referential use: “While we must be worried about POPULISM, we should also avoid assuming that anything citizens ask for is necessarily bad.” (« Il faut certes se méfier du POPULISME, mais il faut aussi se garder de considérer que tout ce qui est demandé par les citoyens est forcément mauvais. ») Didier Guillaume (Minister of agriculture).
Example referring to an action: “A minister dared to say that using the law was a POPULIST drift” (« Un ministre a osé dire qu’utiliser la loi était une dérive POPULISTE. ») Alexis Corbière (MP, LFI).
Example about a collective entity: “Should we rebuild our borders and deconstruct the edifice, as the so-called POPULIST movements are urging us to do? Or should we impose more Europe [sic] by forceps, at a time when our fellow citizens' distrust in Europe has never been greater?” (« Faut-il dès lors rebâtir nos frontières et déconstruire l’édifice, comme nous y invitent les mouvements dits POPULISTES ? À l’inverse, faut-il, au forceps, imposer plus d’Europe, alors même que la défiance de nos concitoyens n’a jamais été aussi forte ? ») Antoine Herth (MP, Agir).
The meaning attributed to populis*:
Almost every use of the word was intended to be a negative use (153/161). In eight occurrences, the tone was neutral, ironic, or unclear, but the use was never exclusively positive.
Example of neutral use: “I thought about Montaigne's words: "People call ‘barbarism’ whatever they do not do themselves”. The term "POPULISM" can also be abused. Engaging in a civic debate on the nation's common good does not mean indulging in populism; it means applying our law, and in particular respecting our Constitution.” (« J’ai pensé au mot de Montaigne : « Chacun appelle barbarie ce qui n’est pas de son usage. » Le terme « POPULISME » donne ainsi lieu à certains abus. Engager un débat citoyen sur un bien commun de la nation, ce n’est pas se livrer au populisme, c’est faire application de notre droit, notamment de notre Constitution ») Dominique Potier (MP, PS).
Example of positive-ironic use: “You speak of populist justice. I don't understand what you mean by this term, but I trust you completely on this point, as you're a great specialist in POPULISM.” (« Vous parlez de justice populiste. Je ne comprends pas ce que vous entendez par ce terme, mais je vous fais entièrement confiance sur ce point, car vous êtes un grand spécialiste de POPULISME. »)Didier Paris (MP, LREM).
In most of the cases, the meaning of populis* is obvious, it is not questioned nor defined. However, in six cases, the word has been questioned: like in Dominique Potier’s (MP, PS) speech on the 11th of April:
“The term "POPULISM" has been misused and distorted. It would have been preferable to use it sparingly and to keep an open mind during the dialogue we had on the PACTE bill.” (« Le terme « POPULISME » a été employé abusivement et déformé. Il aurait été préférable d’en user avec modération et d’avoir un état d’esprit plus ouvert au cours du dialogue que nous avons entretenu sur le projet de loi PACTE »)
The main conceptual areas associated with populism in this analysis are nationalism (59/161), demagoguery (36/161), and extremism (23/161). Sometimes several fields are combined in the same occurrence: for instance, a single use of populis* can be nationalist and extremist. In 19 cases, we were not able to link occurrences with any conceptual field. The following figure illustrates our coding scheme:
The domains autocratic (16/161) and anti-elite (13/161) are less represented. The category “conspiracist/misleading” (8/161) is used in limited ways, just like “based on the people” (4/161), “tradition” (4/161) and “popular” (1/161).
Functions associated with the use of populis*:
The most frequent use of populis* expresses a matter of concern (76/161). this term is also used to criticize an isolated act (27), describe (21) or criticize a person or a group (20). The word is rarely used to refer to legitimization by opposition, denegation, or self-legitimization.
Example of a use that express a concern: “Finally, I want to tell you that, against a backdrop of rising xenophobia and POPULISM that threaten our shared European values, the Union must play its full part in deconstructing fears and defusing the situation.” (« Enfin, je veux vous dire que, dans un contexte de montée de la xénophobie et des POPULISMES qui menacent les valeurs européennes communes, l’Union doit pleinement contribuer à déconstruire les peurs et à apaiser. ») Stella Dupont (MP, LREM).
Example for a legitimization through opposition: “You chose your own camp: you chose that of POPULISM; we, that of responsibility!” (« Chacun son camp : vous choisissez celui du POPULISME ; nous, celui de la responsabilité ! ») Bruno Le Maire (Minister of economy, LREM).
Example of denegation: “Turning time into a civic debate is not POPULISM, but a democratic exercise.” (« Faire du sujet du temps long un débat citoyen n’est pas du POPULISME, mais un exercice démocratique. ») Dominique Potier (MP, PS).
Conclusion:
The TrUMPo project database provides an overview of the use of populis* in the French National Assembly in 2019. The leading party LREM is the main user of populis*, and left-wing parties use the term more frequently than other parties when considering the number of seats in the Assembly. Populis* is mainly used in communication between parliament and government, almost always in prepared speeches. In many occurrences, the word is used in a self-referential way; its meaning is obvious to the speaker and is never positive. The conceptual areas most closely associated with populis* are nationalism and demagoguery, while the anti-elitist aspect of the word is less frequent and the popular or traditional aspect almost absent. For speakers, the term often expresses a concern, it is used to convey criticism, and it is less often used to promote denegation or legitimization. It is to be reminded that this overview does not take into account the speaking time and contribution of each person or group.
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