en fr

Does discussion create votes? The conditions, uses, and effects of political discussions during the 2017 French elections

Les discussions font-elles les votes ? Conditions, usages et effets des conversations lors des élections françaises de 2017

Abstract : This article considers the impact of political conversations on electoral choices, a highly important topic today, in the contextual approach to voting. This paper is based on a questionnaire-based survey and in-depth interviews conducted during the 2017 French elections (presidential and legislative). It shows that the hypothesis that conversation plays a deciding role during election periods is unrealistic, especially when focusing solely on conversations' ``political'' content. While conversations have effects, they can be understood only by studying the social anchors that determine the possibility of having political conversations, as well as the meaning voters give to such talks. Ultimately, this article demonstrates that what circulates in preelection conversations is less political information helping voters to make decisions, than norms and partisan identifications that give the act of voting a decisive collective dimension.