The left and the right: origins and evolution of the divide

The words "left" and "right" come from a debate in the Constituent Assembly in 1789. For more than two centuries, this divide has structured French political life, even though its content has changed and it is regularly called into question.

1789: a question of seating

At the end of the summer of 1789, the National Constituent Assembly debated the king's right of veto over laws. Deputies in favour of an extended royal veto gathered to the right of the presiding officer. Those who wanted to limit it or reject it sat on the left. On 11 September 1789, the Assembly adopted a suspensive veto.

This seating arrangement in the chamber would last. It gave their names to two major tendencies: the right, attached to the established order and authority, and the left, favourable to change and the extension of rights.

The 19th century: the question of the regime

In the 19th century, the divide mainly opposed supporters of the monarchy or the Empire to republicans. The left defended the Republic, universal suffrage and secularism. The right brought together Legitimists, Orléanists and Bonapartists. After 1870 and the establishment of the Third Republic, the question of the regime lost much of its importance.

The 20th century: the social question

With industrialisation, the divide shifted towards the economy and social issues. The left organised itself around socialism. The SFIO was founded in 1905. The Parti communiste français was born from the split at the Tours Congress in 1920. The right defended property, private initiative and often the role of religion.

In the interwar years, political scientist Albert Thibaudet described a movement he called “sinistrism”: new parties appeared on the left and pushed older ones towards the right.

Under the Fifth Republic: bipolarisation

The majoritarian voting system and the two-round presidential election favoured the formation of two blocs. On the left, the 1972 Common Programme brought together socialists and communists. On the right, Gaullists and centrists formed alliances. From 1981 to 2017, the presidency alternated between the mainstream left and the mainstream right.

Realignments since 2017

In 2017, Emmanuel Macron presented himself as going beyond this divide. The PS and LR candidates were eliminated in the first round. In 2017 and 2022, the second round pitted Emmanuel Macron against Marine Le Pen.

Several political scientists now describe a landscape of three blocs: a left bloc, a central bloc and a national-right bloc. Others consider that the left-right divide remains relevant and has simply been reconfigured. The debate is open.

What differences exist today?

Positions cannot be reduced to a single axis. Opinion polls often distinguish several dimensions:

• Economic and social: role of the state, taxes, redistribution, public services, the market.
• Cultural: immigration, security, secularism, social mores.
• Europe and globalisation: European integration, free trade, national sovereignty.
• Ecology: pace and methods of the environmental transition.

A voter may sit on the left on one axis and on the right on another. This is one reason why parties form different alliances from one election to the next.

A benchmark still in use

Despite these debates, most French people still agree to place themselves on a left-right scale in opinion polls. The media and polling institutes also use it to classify parties and candidates. This benchmark therefore remains useful for reading the 2027 campaign, provided its limits are kept in mind.