If the fact of reaching the civil majority at 18 seems normal to everyone today, it has not always been the case.
When, after almost seven decades of majority at 21, the President of the Republic Valery Giscard D'Estaing decided to lower it, opinions were initially quite divided.
Some welcomed the news, one young girl aptly pointing out that "if we consider that at 18, people are capable of doing their military service - therefore of enlisting and going to war - they are also capable of vote " ;
others are more dubious, like this young conscript in the French Navy for whom “18 is perhaps too young.
We should perhaps set the medium term at 19 or 20 years”.
Alignment with the rest of the world
VGE, he chose to "align" with the democratic nations of the moment: "In Germany, Great Britain, the United States, Canada, in a certain number of socialist countries, the electoral age, c is 18 years old.
And I see no reason why young French men and women cannot exercise their judgment or participate in major national decisions at an age when others can do so elsewhere.
»
Discover the reactions to this democratic development in this video from our partner Brut.
Access to this content has been blocked to respect your choice of consent
By clicking on "
I ACCEPT
", you accept the deposit of cookies by external services and will thus have access to third-party content
I ACCEPT
You can also modify your choices at any time via "choice of consent".
More information on the Cookie Management Policy page.
Society
Fuel prices: How bike sales were boosted by the 1973 oil shock
World
VIDEO.
US Presidential: A 102-year-old American mobilizes to encourage people to vote against Donald Trump
Society
Raw
Video
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Majority
Vote
0 comment
0 share
Share on Messenger
Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Flipboard
Share on Pinterest
Share on Linkedin
Send by Mail
To safeguard
A fault ?
To print