A wave of authoritarian and xenophobic populism is shaking liberal democracies, raising concern about their very capacity to survive. Using France as a magnifying lens, this book takes a less pessimistic perspective. Scrutinizing French society from political elites at the top to ordinary citizens at the bottom, it discovers considerable inequalities, tensions, frustrations, and distress, exacerbated by the dissolution of the National Assembly decided by President Macron in June 2024 and the political crisis it opened. Yet, it also provides ample evidence of citizen’s commitment to core democratic values, which, for the moment, resists. The historical progression of the far right in the elections of 2022–2024, unending waves of protest, and record levels of distrust in political institutions and parties express as much discontent as a strong desire for democratic rejuvenation. The French public massively calls for a more effective democracy, evaluating the performance of its governments against democracy’s own exacting standards. The principal cause of this crisis of representation, we here argue, is a growing disconnect between citizens’ demands and the response of political elites, aggravated by their tendencies to take advantage of democracy’s inherent weaknesses and by a rigid institutional framework. We believe, however, with tempered optimism, that these problems can be addressed, if democracy is made more participative, more redistributive, more inclusive, and more open to deliberative and direct democratic mechanisms.