Country Research Project

1. Country Research Project Some Things To Help You Research and Write Your Paper

2. Total Population divided by Total Area = Population density 316,668,567 ÷ 3,794,079 = 83.46 On average, 83 people in every square mile of the country

4. Constitutional? Federal? Republic? Democratic?

5. Our system of law. Based on what? When did the government start? Who can vote? How democratic?

6. Gross Domestic Product = The total amount of goods and services produced by a country in a year GDP ÷ Total Population = GDP per Capita

7. Political Risk Index and Political Stability How stable is the political system? Freedom Rankings and Human Rights How free is the country? What is their record on human rights? Government structure and functions

8. Political Parties: Centrist and Republican Union or UCR [Francois ZOCCHETTO] (previously Centrist Union Democratic Movement or MoDem [Francois BAYROU] (previously Union for French Democracy or UDF) Europe Ecology - The Greens or EELV [Pascal DURAND] French Communist Party or PCF [Pierre LAURENT] Left Front Coalition or FDG [Jean-Luc MELENCHON] Left Party or PG [Jean-Luc MELENCHON and Martine BILLARD] Left Radical Party or PRG [Jean-Michel BAYLET] (previously Radical Socialist Party or PRS and the Left Radical Movement or MRG) Movement for France or MPF [Philippe DE VILLIERS] National Front or FN [Marine LE PEN] New Anticapitalist Party or NPA [collective leadership; main spokesperson Christine POUPIN] New Center or NC [Herve MORIN] Radical Party [Jean-Louis BORLOO] Rally for France or RPF [Charles PASQUA] Republican and Citizen Movement or MRC [Jean-Luc LAURENT] Socialist Party or PS [Haerlem DESIR] United Republic or RS [Dominique DE VILLEPIN] Union for a Popular Movement or UMP [Jean-Francois COPE] Worker's Struggle (LutteOuvriere) or LO [collective leadership; spokespersons Nathalie ARTHAUD and Arlette LAQUILLER]

9. 2012 Elections results: On June 10, 2012, French voters went to the polls to cast their ballots in the first round of the parliamentary elections.  Results after the first round showed that President Hollande's Socialists and their Green allies were positioned  for a majority with around 46 percent of the vote share.  The center-right Union for a Popular Movement  and its electoral partners secured about 34 percent.  Le Pen's far right National Front garnered almost 14 percent  of votes -- well exceeding the four percent won in the 2007 elections.  The Communist-backed Left Front saw a respectable overall result having won close to seven percent of the vote share. On June 17, 2012, French voters returned to the polls to cast their ballots in the second round of the parliamentary elections. With the votes counted, as expected, the Socialist Party of France and its allies won enough parliamentary seats to form an absolute majority.  A preliminary vote count showed that the Socialists  had won between 296 and 320 seats -- more than the 289 needed to claim a majority in the 577-seat National Assembly; the center-right Union for a Popular Movement garnered between 221 and 231 seats; the Soclalist-allied  Greens had won 20 seats; the communist-allied Left Front had 10 seats; and the the far-right National Front took between one and four seats. National Front leader, Le Pen, would not be among those taking a seat in the new parliament since she lost her election bid to her Socialist rival, PhilipeKemel.

10. This result meant that the Socialists could command control over the parliament without having to rely on support from either the Greens or the far-left. With the Senate already in the Socialist column, this result also ensured that President Hollande would have the parliamentary support needed to advance his economic growth agenda, which has included increased taxation for the country's richest citizens and increased public spending.