J. Searcy's "State of France" blog

I am not precisely sure what area of research I will be including into this particular blog post. By, however I have found some very informative information while I was researching the State of France. And here it is:

 

General Information on France

Official Name: French Republic
Capital: Paris (Current local time)
Government Type: Republic
Population: 63.72 million
Area: 220,668 square miles; largest west European country, about four-fifths the size of Texas.
Languages: French, but some rapidly declining regional dialects and languages.

Also while trying to muster up some very intriguing information about the State of France that suck out to me, I obtained a good article on the "International Hearld Tribune (Global NY Times)" website. The article is titled, "Socialist Party Decisively Wins French Elections". The article was published on March 27, 2011 in Paris by Reuters.

While reading this article I found out that, "The opposition Socialist Party decisively won French local elections on Sunday", which would have been last week, it also stated, "and the far-right National Front surged, putting pressure on President Nicolas Sarkozy from two sides a year before he faces the electorate". It goes on to say, "with most votes counted in the second round of polls to elect cantonal councils in half of France, the left had 36%, almost double the ruling party's 18.6 %"

The article continues by stating, "The anti immigrant National Front, which has surged in opinion polls under its new leader, Marine Le Pen, scored 11 % even though it put up candidates in only a minority of departments. In some areas it scored as much as 40%". 

It continues by stating, "The polls will probably be the last big test of sentiment before the April 2012 election." It goes on to state that, "Ms. Le Pen has pushed ahead of the president to stand second behind leftists in opinion polls". 

"Prime Minister Francois Fillon said the outcome for the National Front", "shows that the protest vote should not be underestimated or made light of. This party must be beaten, and the reasons for its support must be clearly evaluated and dealt with." It continues by stating that, "Mr. Sarkozy's party, the U.M.P., has blurred the distinction with the far right by taking a tough line on the integration of the Muslim minority". 

The article continues by stating, "Ms. Le Pen told reporters, "A few more pushes and shoves with the battering ram and the U.M.P. system will disintegrate". France's cantonal councils take care of matters like the building of roads and schools as well as the distribution of various welfare subsidies. 

I found this article to be immensely informative in regards to a current Socialist Party in the state of France. It is great to see that the Socialist beliefs is still being considered around the world. Pioneer European Karl Marx was a socialist, and to witness this Socialist party's movement was very inspiring and uplifting. I will have to keep my Comparative Politics class up to date with any new information that's conveyed in reference to this article. I well include the link to this article for your pleasure: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/28/world/europe/28france.html?_r=1&ref=france