In the months preceding the presidential elections of 2007, the Socialist party’s candidate, Ségolène Royal, laid claim to a transformation in traditional electoral campaign tactics in favor of participative methods. These included deliberative experiences both at the local level and abroad, as well as a use of the interactive possibilities of the internet to further new democratic practices, without of course abandoning the more routine techniques used in political marketing and communication. This dissertation explores the tension, interactions, and forms of hybridization that emerged between partisan politics and participative innovations. It highlights the ways the development of participative strategies acts to reveal the power relations between the main actors of the partisan political game.
