Marie Demker, "Changing Party Ideology: Gaullist Parties Facing Voters, Leaders and Competitors," Party Politics, 3 (July 1997), 407-426.

First Paragraph:
Could the ideology of a political party remain unaffected by a party system in change, undergoing substantial alteration in electoral opinions and with variations in the party elite? If not, which of these factors are the most important for initiating party ideology change? The Gaullist party is a political party that has attempted to appear to put the nation first and to stand above tactical parliamentary quarrels. At the same time it has been forced to work under the same circumstances as other political parties, parties which the Gaullists have criticized for tactical considerations and narrowness.

Figures and Tables:
Table 1: Electoral support for Gaullist parties 1951-1993 (parliamentary elections).
Table 2: Matrix for analysis of party doctrine.
Table 3: Matrix of two ideal types for the study of Gaullist party ideology.
Table 4: Gaullist party doctrine, 1966-76.
Table 5: Gaullist party doctrine, 1977-90.

Last Paragraph:
This study has also shown that the ideological character and political identity of the Gaullist parties have had a significance which exceeded the person of Charles de Gaulle. During the 1960s and 1970s, the Gaullist party developed a party ideology which authorized independent national political activity with claims to governing power, both before and after de Gaulle himself had left the presidency.