Examine and explain the contrasting principles unerpinning the Essay

Examine and explain the contrasting principles unerpinning the organisational structures and practices of the French communist and socialist parties in the 1970's - Essay Example During the 1980s the Socialist Party became the party of the Left in France, electing Francois Mitterrand to two terms during that time. In order to explain these developments one must look to the previous decade for the social, political, and organizational practices and beliefs that facilitated this change in the ideological left in France. An examination of the theoretical and ideological apparatuses that precipitated this political shift along with a presentation of cultural and political events that led to a realignment of political strategies of the two parties will be followed by an inquiry into the organizational and leadership practices and beliefs of the two groups. The subsequent analysis of the ebb and flow of the respective fortunes of the PS and PCF should reveal that the Political Left in France has operated under a "Coalition as Rivalry"2 paradigm to the ultimate benefit of the PS and the seemingly irrecoverable detriment of the PCF. Forming out of the Section Francaise de Ilnternationale Ouvriere (SFIO) in 1905, the Socialist Party was cobbled together with an uneasy mix of Marxists, members of workers parties, revolutionaries and reformists.3 The uneasiness of this arrangement eventually led to a splintering of the "feeble" alliance and at the 1920 Congress of Tour, what was to become the PCF was formed.4 The rather hard ideological line of the PCF illustrated by the slogan, "sovietization à ¡ outrance" is indicative of the affiliation that French Communists had at the time with Soviet Politburo.5 The Socialists and Communists did briefly come together in an unofficial capacity, along with the radicals in a mid-1930s movement known as the Popular Front. That coalition was interrupted by WWII. After WWII, much of the left was united against Gaullism though nevertheless splintered over the issue of Algerian Independence. The start of the Fifth Republic saw perpetuation of the orthodox