Although they have long been viewed with suspicion as citizens of dubious patriotism, French living abroad now represent an expatriate community endowed with a great number of political rights. Henceforth regularly hailed as an “essential element of France’s cultural and economic influence”, this group has steadily seen its conditions for political participation and representation improve during recent years. Using original research based on interviews, media content and archival documents, this paper analyses the reasons and consequences of this dramatic change in perspective toward French expatriates. It provides answers to the following research questions: What are the factors explaining their symbolic and legal rehabilitation since the late 20th century ? How has the new category of "French Voters living abroad" been defined in recent years ? Why have they been granted growing voting rights, external voting provisions and level of political representation?
