Interest Representatives and the 2012 French Presidential Campaign. Relationships to Politics and Forms of Cooperation with Candidates

Based on a study of interest groups during the 2012 French presidential campaign, the present article offers a sociological approach to interest representatives, focusing on their social backgrounds and professional trajectories, as well as their mundane habits and daily activities during electoral periods. It argues that the reasons for their access to the political field lie in their shared interests, competencies and dispositions with politicians, as well as their position as social and professional counterparts to candidates’ staff.