Description: The extreme right-wing National Front is now France's fourth largest political party. In 1986 under a proportional electoral system it won thirty-five seats in the French National Assembly. At the 1995 Presidential election its leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, obtained fifteen per cent of the popular vote. Over the past decade it has won representation at virtually all levels of French politics. Le Pen's xenophobic anti-immigrant message has attracted significant support in France. Indeed the National Front leader has had a major influence upon the terms in which issues like immigration, nationality and racism are debated in France. Drawing on personal interviews with Le Pen and other National Front leaders, Jonathan Marcus traces the rise of Le Pen's party, and its impact on the French political scene, and in the process raises important questions about the future of French, European and world politics. How far have the mainstream parties of both Left and Right faced up to Le Pen's challenge? Is the National Front now a permanent feature of French politics? To what degree is Le Pen a threat to French democracy? And finally, how successful will Le Pen be in pushing his agenda in the European Parliament?

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