Analysis of the original social positions of party leaders shows that the present mechanisms of political recruitment tend to favour the upper classes of society, but that each party encourages the ascent of different fractions of these classes. The contrasts between parties which structure the functioning of the political spectrum thus appear to duplicate (quite independently moreover) the internal structures of the upper classes. The differences between the leaders of the PCF and PS on one hand, and the RPR and UDF on the other, bear a strong resemblance, for example, to the contrast between the intellectual and economic poles of these classes. Similarly, when these parties recruit in other strata, the PCF and PS tend to recruit officials in lower-dominated positions, whereas the UDF and RPR prefer to recruit officials in senior-dominant positions. This pattern of homologies also explains the logic behind recruitment aimed at the middle and popular classes, and allows a few assumptions to be made concerning the mechanism of political influence and representation.
political recruitment; social classes; political parties
