A PERILOUS DEMOCRATIC EXERCISE WITHIN AN EXCEPTIONAL HEALTH CONTEXT

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4215/rm2022.e21030

Abstract

This article questions the organization of the French municipal elections within the context of a global pandemic (COVID-19). In a little-explored scientific field in the cities of Le Mans, Allonnes, Coulaines and Arnage, we examine the practice of abstention on the part of voters in Le Mans Métropole. In this regard, principal component analysis followed by hierarchical cluster analysis was performed. We used the data of both the French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) and the French Ministry of the Interior. Our main goal consisted in highlighting the electoral geography of Le Mans Métropole at the municipal and sub-municipal levels, using maps. We thus report that abstention rates soared. This fact corroborates the initial hypothesis of low turnout by the population at the end of this first round of the municipal elections and benefiting certain candidates on the local electoral scene. This was particularly the case for the left-wing party, the victory of which was also analysed within a national context of the Socialist Party’s decline. 

Keywords: municipal election, abstention, covid-19, France, urban community of Le Mans, spatial analysis.

 

Author Biographies

  • Guillaume Bailly, Le Mans University, Le Mans, France

    PhD in Geography and Professor at Université Le Mans, France

  • Thomas Louche, Le Mans University, Le Mans, France

    PhD in Geography and Professor at Université Le Mans, France

Downloads

Published

2023-02-15

Issue

Vol. 21 (2022)

Section

Artigos

License

Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms:

\
    \
  1. Authors retain the copyright and grant MERCATOR the right of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows the sharing of the work with recognition of the authorship of the work and initial publication in this journal.
    2. \
  2. Authors are authorized to sign additional contracts separately, for non-exclusive distribution of the version of the work published in this journal (e.g., publish in an institutional repository or as a book chapter), with acknowledgment of authorship and initial publication in this journal.
    3. \
  3. Authors are allowed and encouraged to publish and distribute their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their personal page) at any point before or during the editorial process, as this can generate productive changes as well as increase the impact and citation of the published work (see The Effect of Free Access).
    4. \
  4. Authors are responsible for the content of the manuscript published in the journal.
    5. \