http://dx.doi.org/10.59704/85456ea84ddee756 https://verfassungsblog.de/le-pens-gambit/ Le Pen’s Gambit - France’s Next Presidential Election Could Put the Rule of Law on the Ballot Capoccia, Giovanni eng 2026-07-14 electronic resource text/html ddc:342 Authoritarian Populism Marine Le Pen Rassemblement National separation of powers Verfassungsblog Verfassungsblog--2366-7044 CC BY-SA 4.0 Marine Le Pen’s presidential campaign began not with a rally but with a court judgment. By announcing her candidacy in a prime-time television interview within hours of the Paris Court of Appeal largely upholding her criminal conviction, the leader of the Rassemblement National has placed one of Europe's oldest constitutional democracies on a path toward a direct confrontation between electoral politics and judicial authority.