Jean-Luc was the son of
Alexandre Parodi, a
Councillor of State and a member of the
French Resistance. His uncle,
René Parodi, was made a
Companion of the Liberation posthumously, following his death in 1942. Parodi studied at
Sciences Po, writing a memoir under the direction of and earning his degree in 1960. He also wrote a thesis on the political system of the
French Fifth Republic under the direction of
René Rémond. He earned a doctorate in political science in 1974. In 1964, he became a researcher at the (CEVIPOF), where he stayed for the entirety of his career. He served as Secretary-General of the from 1980 to 1999 and directed the
Revue française de science politique from 1991 to 2008. He was also heavily involved with the
Institut français d'opinion publique, where he was a pioneer in the analysis of political polls. He was the first person to predict a presidential election in France in
1965 and the first to analyze municipal elections in
1983. Parodi carried out political research at the
Presses Universitaires de France alongside
Olivier Duhamel, moving to
Éditions du Seuil in 1993 after a nomination from . He was an Officer of the
National Order of the Legion of Honour. He died in Paris on 21 January 2022, at the age of 84. ==Publications==