This work on the decline of French radicalism was conceived after
the fall of the Berlin Wall as an essay on the decline and decay of
the revolutionary idea in European politics. The theme provided an
organizing principle for Roger Kaplan's analysis of the evolution
of the French left in the wake of events for which it was
politically and intellectually unprepared. Kaplan provides a basis
for understanding the performance of a French socialist regime in
power, one more uncertain of its mission than at any other time in
its history. The paradox of French radicalism is that when it was
out of office, it was quite certain about its mission. When it
attained power, it lost its sense of mission, and hence its
confidence as to the proper uses of power. "Conservative Socialism"
for Kaplan is not simply an invention of the Mitterand Era, but an
ideology rooted in French history. Unwilling or unable to embrace
the social democratic idea of the "third way," French socialism
became a force to conserve particularism in French culture and
nationalism in its foreign policies. While socialism had long
become a force to inhibit the rise of capitalism and freedom in
France, the decline of its radicalism was inevitable. This is
because in a country as conservative as France it was necessary for
socialists and their assorted allies, to project a conservative
image to be trusted. In France, the Left has abandoned the idea of
radicalism so as to exercise power. Kaplan's unique and imaginative
reading of French political history will have a profound effect on
how that nation is perceived in this new epoch of the European
Union. He argues persuasively and fairly that the French Left is
alive if not well. The Left rose to power in France despite its
policy failures, embarrassments, because it transcended the "end"
to which its political dogma would have consigned it. Conservative
Socialism will have a stunning impact on how political theorists
view political developments in France and Europe.
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