The growing polarization in the French National Assembly contrasts with the relative calm observed in society, according to political scientists. A recent study reveals a 'parliamentary fever' marked by emotional rhetoric since 2017. Researchers question the mechanisms of universal suffrage that distort the image of the people.
Since the disappearance of stable and disciplined majorities under the Fifth Republic, the French political arena has been marked by growing bitterness and fury. In the National Assembly, insults, invectives, and trials for treason are multiplying in an increasingly rowdy hemicycle, turning debates into a boulevard theater scene.
A note published in January 2025 by the Observatoire du bien-être, affiliated with the Centre for Economic Research and its Applications, draws an alarming conclusion. Researchers Yann Algan, Thomas Renault, and Hugo Subtil analyzed approximately 2 million speeches delivered in plenary sessions from 2007 to 2024, using artificial intelligence. They observe a 'parliamentary fever' since 2017, with the imposition of emotional rhetoric, particularly that of anger.
Nourished applause and loud disapprovals have tripled between 2017 and 2024, while ideological fragmentation has surged vertiginously. The polarization index in 2024 is six times higher than in 2007, making the Assembly a true spectacle stage.
This contrast with the relative calm of the population, noted by social sciences, raises the question of the mechanisms by which universal suffrage generates such a distorted image of the people.
