THE INSTITUTIONS of the French Republic provide the basic structure for politics in the outre-mer but allow a flexible application of constitutional and administrative provisions and a large area of manoeuvre for ideologies, parties and individuals. The system, however, does not always function straightforwardly in practice. What William Miles and Maurice Satineau call the ‘paradox’ of politics in the DOM-TOMs is that the structure designed for the métropole does not necessarily match the realities of the overseas départements and territories, which have a different cultural, political, economic and social structure from that of European France. Alain Miroite even speaks of a ‘dysfunction’ of metropolitan political models in the outre-mer. Politics in the DOM-TOMs has different contours from those of the métropole;: usually greater degrees of abstention in voting, a marked clientelism and personal control of politics, compromises between local elites and the centralised state, and a strong influence for numerically marginal parties. Furthermore, the small size of the DOM-TOMs, rather than simplifying politics, creates fragmentation of parties and ideological cleavages, and the different levels of political authority (municipal, departmental and regional, or territorial) fosters competition for leverage among politicians and parties.

Politics in the DOM-TOMs is often analysed solely in terms of asymmetrical relations between a dominant centre, the métropole, and a subjected periphery, the overseas départements and territories.