Kemal Derviş and Caroline Conroy
Many commentators have described Emmanuel Macron’s victory in the French presidential election as a triumph for the center right, because he received votes that otherwise would have gone to the scandal-plagued mainstream conservative candidate, François Fillon.
But this electoral dynamic does not capture the meaning of Macron’s victory. It would be more accurate to say that Macron cut through traditional party divides and stood as a candidate for those who believe that, with proper management and new technologies, European integration and the forces of globalization can deliver widely shared benefits. By contrast, most of Macron’s opponents simply stoked fears about today’s economic realities. Continue reading
