French Politics & Election Vocabulary

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.

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:

Elections in France (Frenchtoday.com)
French political terms (Quizlet flashcards)
Words and phrases for discussing French politics (completefrance.com)

Suggested audio French courses from Frenchtoday.com

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David Issokson

David Issokson is a lifelong language enthusiast. His head is swimming with words and sounds as he speaks over six languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private online lessons. When procrastinating working on his site, FrenchLearner.com, David enjoys his time skiing and hiking in Teton Valley, Idaho.

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