Sinistrisme

Former Former Defunct Defunct Sinistrisme (French: [sinistʁism]) is a neologism invented by political scientist Albert Thibaudet in Les idées politiques de la France (1932) to explain the evolution and recombination of party systems, particularly in France, without substantial changes occurring to party ideology.

Thibaudet saw that, over time, issues that previously had not been politicised would emerge, drawing public concern and stimulating demand for political action.

The old party of the left would be split, with some accepting the new issues as legitimate, agreeing to cooperate with the newcomers and adapting their ideology accordingly.

The emergence of new rivals to their left meant that a political bloc suddenly found itself shifted one space to the right, without considering itself to be a party of the right.

Historian René Rémond observed that after 1924 the term "right-wing" vanished from the glossary of mainstream politics in France, such that "at the 1974 presidential election, only one candidate declared himself as belonging to the right: Jean-Marie Le Pen; in 1981, there was none.