Les Polynésiens et les élections présidentielles : un enjeu local avant tout

French Polynesian people elect the President of France since 1965 through general franchise. Electoral rates, as well as votes results, clearly show that motivations differ between voters in French Polynesia and Metropolitan France, as well as the other departments and territories. French Polynesian citizens feel more and more stranger with metropolitan political life, since their statute provided them with a large degree of self-government. Their votecasting is influenced by directives given by their mayors who are the key persons within the political system. Indeed they constitute for themselves clients who become their « obligés ». In fact, casting votes at the time of presidential election imply the support for the mayor or a rejection. As prosperity in French Polynesia cornes to an end with the stopping of nuclear testing, would electorat behaviours change ?French Polynesian people elect the President of France since 1965 through general franchise. Electoral rates, as well as votes results, clearly show that motivations differ between voters in French Polynesia and Metropolitan France, as well as the other departments and territories. French Polynesian citizens feel more and more stranger with metropolitan political life, since their statute provided them with a large degree of self-government. Their votecasting is influenced by directives given by their mayors who are the key persons within the political system. Indeed they constitute for themselves clients who become their « obligés ». In fact, casting votes at the time of presidential election imply the support for the mayor or a rejection. As prosperity in French Polynesia cornes to an end with the stopping of nuclear testing, would electorat behaviours change ?Regnault Jean-Marc. Les Polynésiens et les élections présidentielles : un enjeu local avant tout. In: Revue française d'histoire d'outre-mer, tome 83, n°313, 4e trimestre 1996. pp. 33-51