Lexique de la politique et les élections
Interested in French politics (la politique)? On this page you’ll find a comprehensive list of French political vocabulary and election terms. We’ve broken the list down into the following categories: people in politics, government terms, sectors, elections and verbs.
![French Politics & Election Vocabulary](https://www.frenchlearner.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/french-politics-vocabulary.jpg)
People in politics
You’ll find that almost all the political terms in French and English are almost the same, especially words for different people.
- President le président de la République
- Prime minister le Premier ministre
- ministers les ministres
- MP, congressman les députés
- Sentor les sénateurs
Government terms
The French political system can be a bit of a mystery for non-French people. This page on Expatic covers the French government structure in depth.
- politics la politique
- government le gouvernement
- executive power le pouvoir executif
- legislative power le pouvoir législatif
- Parliament le Parlement
- national assembly L’Assemblée nationale
- Senate le Sénat
- laws les lois (f)
Sectors
The following is a list of different areas the French government overseas.
- economy l’économie
- finance les finances
- employment l’Emploi
- foreign affairs les Affaires étrangères
- education l’Éducaiton nationale
- health la Santé
- youth and sports la Jeunesse et les Sports
- transportation les Transports
Elections
The following vocabulary list pertains to French political elections. In France, presidents serve a five-year terms and are limited to two consecutive terms.
- presidential election une élection présidentielle
- legislative election les élections législatives
- political parties les partis politiques (m)
- far right l’extrême droite
- far left l’extrême gauche
- candidate un candidat, une candidate
- independent candidate un candidat indépendant
- green party les écologistes
- voter un électeur, une électrice
- campaign rally un grand rassemblement
- ballot paper un bulletin de vote
- election day le jour des élections
- polling station le bureau de vote
- voting card une carte d’électeur
- polling booth, voting booth un isoloir
- voting box une urne de vote
- mayor un maire
- local elections les élections municipales
Verbs
- to vote on laws voter les lois
- to announce, promulgate promulguer
- to elect élire
- to get the majority of votes remporter la majorité des voix
- to cast a vote depose un bulletin
- to count the votes dépouiller les votes
- to announce the results proclamer les résultats
Related lessons:
More resources:
- French political terms (Quizlet flashcards)
- Words and phrases for discussing French politics (completefrance.com)