RlCE UNIVERSITY STUDIES
first UNR national congress resolved that “the UNR manifests its determi-
nation to carry through the abolition of the proletarian condition, thus
escaping the Capitalist-Marxist dilemma.”33 Gaullists often disagree, how-
ever, as to whether social progress ought also to be an important Gaullist
goal in its own right, as to the appropriate pace of reform, and as to the
proper role of interested groups (particularly labor unions) in the plan-
ning process. Fearful that the UNR, once having decimated the parties of
the traditional Right (as it did in the legislative elections of 1962), might
simply absorb their economic views along with their voters, Gaullists of a
reformist bent have carried on a sustained campaign to get on with pro-
grams for redistribution of national income.31 This lack of consensus among
Gaullists regarding social and economic policy presents one of the UDR’s
most serious problems in its effort to survive de Gaulle.
If, as has been argued above, there exists a minimal consensus among
Gaullists apart from simple fidelity, where should they then be placed on
the French political spectrum? Despite protests from Gaullist leaders, it
seems clear that the electorate thought of the UNR as a party of the Right.
In a national survey conducted by the French Institute of Public Opinion
(IFOP) in December, 1962, 55 percent of the respondents labeled the
UNR as “Right,” as opposed to 4 percent who viewed it as “Left,” 22 per-
cent as “Center,” and 19 percent who expressed no opinion.35 In contrast,
only 44 percent of all respondents felt the Popular Republican Movement
(MRP) to be “Right,” and — surprisingly — only 39 percent so labeled
the Independents.
Looking beyond survey data, the answer to the “Right-Left” question
depends in good part upon the criteria which one applies, for French atti-
tudes and ideologies rarely fit neatly into a spectral frame. Tested by the
traditional “red-black” criterion, Gaullist support for government subsidies
to Catholic schools in 1951 and 1959 place the RPF and the UNR on the
moderate Right, though a vigorous minority of Gaullists opposed subsidies
of any kind. However, given the numerous Protestants and Jews in its ranks,
and given de Gaulle’s suspicion of all private interests — including the
Church — the UDR clearly cannot be classified as a confessional party.30
It is significant that the law of December, 1967, which liberalized legal
prohibitions on birth control, was initiated by a prominent Gaullist deputy,
Lucien Neuwirth, and voted into law with the acceptance of the government.
A second popular criterion distinguishes parties according to their atti-
tude toward governmental institutions, with the Left representing strong
suspicion of the powerful state generally and of the strong executive in
particular. Again, with its marked repugnance to assembly government and
its constant defense of a strong, independent executive, Gaullism clearly