Political participation of immigrants as one of the forms of their involvement in the life of the major society: the example of France
Abstract
Political participation of immigrants (expressed for example by their participation in elections, representation in political parties or in the leadership functions of a city) is now seen as one of the key elements supporting their integration into the major society. In France was already in 1983 founded civil association called Votation citoyenne (Civil vote), but despite more than 30 years of its campaigns and diligent work, the results obtained are rather vague.
So far, the law that would give to the foreigners from the countries outside of the EU the right to vote and to be elected at least in the local elections was only approved but did not enter into the force. Temporary solution of this situation stands therefore in active attitude of local governments, from whom the town hall of big Paris and the city of Hérouville-Saint-Clair in the region of Basse-Normandie were the most active.
In terms of their political participation, expressed by the share of representatives with probable immigrant background in the total number of elected representatives in municipalities with more than 9,000 inhabitants, the immigrants from non-European countries were better involved in the life of majority in Paris than in the region of Basse-Normandie. However, between the years 2001 and 2008, this form of their participation in political life had bigger dynamics in the region of Basse-Normandie than in the region of Paris.