Do French people like the `cumul des mandats'?

ISSN： 1476-3419

Source： French Politics, Vol.11, Iss.2, 2013-06, pp. : 204-215

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Abstract

This article assesses the voters' support for the multiple-mandate holding (cumul des mandats) of their representatives using an alternative method of measurement based neither on polls nor on electoral results. Voters' financial contributions to candidates allow for the measuring of, among other things, the public's perception of the situation of multiple-mandate holding while overcoming the principle problems posed by habitual measurements. The study of electoral contributions to the incumbent candidates at the 2007 legislative elections shows that the accumulation of local offices is neither valued nor sanctioned by voters. Yet, the function of mayor, and thus of the MP who is the mayor, is positively perceived. This result contradicts the arguments based on electoral results that are more favorable to candidates holding multiple mandates and those based on polls that claim a voter's rejection of this practice.