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GUEST: Elaine Bernard, Executive Director of the Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard University

Conservative candidate Nicolas Sarkozy defeated his socialist rival Segolene Royal in last Sunday’s presidential election runoff in France. The turnout marked the third consecutive presidential election defeat for the French left with Sarkozy winning 53 percent of the vote to Royal’s 47 percent. Hundreds of protesters were arrested in street demonstrations that immediately denounced Sarkozy’s victory. The defeat of Royal and the French Socialists has provoked uncertainty over the Socialist party’s future with some members calling for a renewal with others desiring a return to traditional roots. Meanwhile, as Sarkozy prepares to start his five year term, he has expressed his foreign policy objectives in line with the Bush Administration. Domestically, he has promised strict immigration enforcement, plans to cut inheritance taxes, as well as make cuts in the national health care system. Upper income neighborhoods in France voted solidly for Sarkozy in this past Sunday’s election.