In late 2018 and early 2019, violent protesters surged through the streets of Paris, burning cars, smashing storefronts and raging against the government in what became known as the Yellow Vest Movement. It was early in President Emmanuel Macron’s first term, and already his favorable ratings had fallen below 25%. White nationalists accused immigrants of taking their jobs. Rural farmers and working-class laborers claimed that the government was run by elites who were out of touch with common people. The young and unemployed seethed over growing inequality.
But only a year later, the protests had receded and more than 40% of the French people held a favorable view of Macron’s presidency.
What changed over the course of 2019, and what can we learn that might help heal the wounds in our country?
Although there are differences between France in late 2018 and the protests in the United States in late 2020, many of the demonstrators shared the same underlying grievances: disaffection with a democratic system that they viewed as failing to represent their interests; anxiety over job losses and stagnating wages due to globalization; anger over rising inequality; and rage against social changes that threaten their traditions and sense of security.
As in this country, many of those who traveled to the protests in Paris came from depopulating rural areas and felt that the state had abandoned them. They were joined by far-right extremists carrying anti-Semitic and anti-immigrant banners.
France has still not reconciled the interests of its divergent constituencies, and more than half the French population views Macron unfavorably, but in the spring of 2019, the president stabilized his leadership by listening to the people.
Between January and March 2019, Macron’s administration conducted 10,000 “listening sessions” throughout the country designed to solicit the complaints, perspectives and suggestions from any French citizen who cared to speak. The process included local town hall sessions, trained moderators, online complaint boxes, citizen assemblies and four national stakeholder conferences. The sessions produced nearly 2 million comments and complaints, which were collected, digitized and published.
Politically, the process was a success. Although some criticized the effort as political grandstanding, large numbers of citizens participated, many of whom had never engaged in politics before. At the end of the process, Macron announced political reforms and policy changes that are still in process.
The issues that angered the Yellow Vest protesters in 2018 have not disappeared. Unemployment and underemployment remain high, inequality has not been addressed and nationalist anger over immigration continues to enrage conservatives. But the electorate applauded Macron’s effort to listen, understand and respond to the complaints of the disenfranchised, and the protests have eased.
The United States is bigger and more diverse than France. A well-organized effort to listen to all who choose to speak would take months and cost millions. Many would be skeptical that a process run by the government would be fair, independent, and balanced. But a government purporting to be by the people and of the people should start by hearing and understanding the people.
Would such a process bring us to a common understanding of facts and issues? Undoubtedly not. But neither will restating long-rejected arguments, or talking at those who have stopped listening.
Listening alone will change nothing. The process must seek to reconcile, or at least respond to, interests that will be hard to align. But isn’t that what politics is meant to do? Isn’t that what democracy is all about?
Scott Brown, of Hanover, is the chief executive officer of New Energy Capital Partners and the former dean of the Tucker Foundation at Dartmouth College.