Dominique Reynié

In 2017, he contributed to the publication in France of a major survey on anti-Semitic violence in Europe, based on data from 2005 to 2015, collected by Johannes Due Enstad. He also published, in line with the study of 2014, a new survey entitled: "France: Jews seen by Muslims", still in partnership with the American Jewish Committee.

In 2017, in an editorial published on the website of Le Figaro (a French newspaper), he said that the construction of a European sovereignty offers the European States "the only and last chance" to weigh in on the course of history. In particular, he said that it would be an instrument needed to reinforce European investments in transport, energy, telecommunications, innovation, research and higher education, infrastructure, and to better resist the influence of GAFAM.

In 2017, he led a major international survey with the Foundation for Political Innovation, on the theme "What Next for Democracy?", covering 26 countries, including 25 European countries. The survey questions, among other things, the rise of populism in Europe as well as citizens' feelings about Europe and its institutions, and reveals that a majority of Europeans believe that democracy in their country is not working optimally. The book supports the idea of weakening democratic values in Europe.

He was elected chairman of the LR-UDI opposition group in the regional council with 20 votes (23 participants, 2 abstentions and 1 vote against). More than a year later, on May 27, 2016, his election was canceled by the Conseil d'État (State Council): Dominique Reynié was indeed a resident in the region as required by the electoral rules, but the date on his rental contract was considered too late when compared with the deadline for a candidate to be eligible for election in 2015. Dominique Reynié complied with the decision of the Conseil d’Etat.

In this regard, he supported for example the draft reform of the Labor Code of the Government of Manuel Valls (El Khomri law) by launching a petition on February 26, 2016. He also supports same-sex marriage, and the liberalization of access to medically assisted reproduction and gestational surrogacy.

Dominique Reynié was a candidate to lead the Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées region's joint list representing both the LR and UDI parties, during the regional elections of December 2015. On April 25, 2015, he was named against Bernard Carayon, after the fourth round of a vote by a "committee of the wise" composed of 40 local and national elected representatives.

In October 2015, his eligibility is questioned by Jean-Pierre Grand, Senator LR, for a domiciliation issue.

In 2015, alongside the Foundation for Political Innovation, he launched a series of eleven studies titled "Values of Islam", with the aim of feeding the debate on the future and the place of Islam in France. Most of these studies are written by Muslim authors and were translated into Arabic.

In 2014, the Foundation for Political Innovation, in partnership with the American Jewish Committee, launched and published an unprecedented survey on "anti-Semitism in the French public opinion", taking into account data on the number of anti-Semitic acts and the results of two surveys conducted with the IFOP (French research and polling institute). The investigation highlights 3 main hotbeds of anti-Semitic opinions in France: among National Front sympathizers and voters supporting Marine Le Pen, among Muslims, among supporters of the Left Front and voters of Jean-Luc Mélenchon. The three profile types are found among users of social networks, discussion forums and video-sharing sites. It also shows that between the period 1994-2004 and the period 2004–2013, the number of anti-Semitic acts tripled.

In the summer of 2012, after the death of Sciences Po director, Richard Descoings, Dominique Reynié was a candidate to take over management of the institution, and was one of five short-listed, along with Gilles Andréani, Hervé Crès, Jean-Michel Blanquer and Frédéric Mion (who was appointed).

In 2012 he was a member of the "Visitors Program" of the BEPA (Bureau of European Policy Advisers).

A supporter of a federal Europe as a political solution to the crisis which has been characterized by the rise of populism, he signed the manifesto "For a solidarity Euro-federation and democracy" in March 2012, led by Jacques Attali. He stressed that "the need to go further in the European sharing of national sovereignties, to fight the economic crisis and to assert the European power in the world ", and called for the establishment of more democracy at the European level.

In 2011, under his direction, the Foundation for Political Innovation published "12 ideas for 2012" which is presented in multiple concrete proposals and which, in his words, would "redefine a society’s vision". In this document, the Foundation was particularly in favor of same-sex marriage as well as adoption by same-sex couples, the introduction of VAT to combat the relocation of companies outside France, the development of online commerce, the sale of non-prescription drugs in supermarkets, a better evaluation of public services, a massive investment in R&D within the energy sector, the development of open data and open government, and redesigning the educational system for more equal opportunities, or a better policy for cultural diversity.

On the topic, he has published two major books : Populisms: the Fatal Slope, in 2011, and The New Populisms, in 2013.

In 2010, he spoke before the Observatory as part of an information mission on political polls. Reynié is also a member of the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights.

In 2010, with the Foundation for Political Innovation, he participated in the creation of the Think Tanks Forum, a meeting which is open to the public and convenes prominent French think tanks at the Sorbonne University, to discuss major contemporary economic and social issues.

In October 2008, Dominique Reynié succeeded Franck Debié as Director General of the Foundation for Political Innovation (Fondation pour l’innovation politique, also known as Fondapol), a think tank founded in 2004 which, at the time of its creation, was close to the political party UMP (Union for a Popular Movement, which later became known as The Republicans-LR). Under his leadership, the think tank now asserts itself as "liberal, progressive and European".

Expert on political, economic and social issues, he takes part in the work of the Observatory of the Decentralization of the Senate, and contributes in particular to the report "Being Locally Elected Today: Adapting our Local Governance to the Challenge of Decentralization", published in 2007.

In 2005, in Sciences Po's Raisons Politiques magazine, he shares the conclusions of his work on the notion of European public opinion and European public space. In particular, he describes the emergence of European collective mobilizations, based on unpublished data relating to the protests against the war in Iraq in 2003.

In 2004, Dominique Reynié decided in favor of negotiations for the entry of Turkey into the European Union in an opinion piece published in the newspaper Le Figaro. At the time, he welcomed Turkey's progress in the field of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as well as the democratic rise to power of a moderate, modern and pro-Western Muslim party.

In Sciences Po, he led the Interregional Observatory of Politics (Observatoire interrégional du politique) from 2002 to 2005, where he contributed to the publication of a regional level barometer, known as “Le baromètre du fait régional”. He was also director of Sciences Po's master's degree in marketing from 1999 to 2006.

Since 1997, Dominique Reynié has been a regular contributor to the media. He publishes editorials in Le Figaro, Le Monde or Libération. In 2011 and 2012, he holds a weekly chronicle on France Culture radio entitled “The World According to Dominique Reynié”.

Close advisor to Richard Descoings (director of Sciences Po between 1996 and 2012), Reynié suggested in 1998 that Descoings set up a form of positive discrimination in the Sciences Po entrance examination. This pioneering measure in France was implemented starting 2001 onwards, with the creation of a specific selection process for students from underprivileged areas (French “Priority Education Zones”, also known by the acronym ZEP). This anecdote was lifted off of journalist Raphaëlle Bacqué's portrait of the former Sciences Po director, titled "Richie", a nickname given to Descoings.

After obtaining his doctorate in 1994, Dominique Reynié held a research position at the Center for Studies of French Politics (Cevipof), where he became a research associate in 1997. He held his first position as University Professor of Political Science at the University of Nice - Sophia Antipolis between 1997 and 1999, before returning to teach at Sciences Po Paris.

Dominique Reynié graduated from Sciences Po Paris in 1983, where he also presented a master thesis in political science in 1984. In 1994, within the same institution, he became a doctor of political science. His thesis was directed by Jean Leca, on the theme: The Democratic Order: The Practical Foundations of a Democratic-type Mass Policy. He earned his Agrégation of political science (French academic certification) in 1997.

Dominique Reynié (born 17 June 1960, Rodez, France) is a French academic. He is a professor of political science at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po Paris).