The French have a strong welfare system precisely because they are willing to take action and forcefully protest when it is threatened.

The approval rating doesn't seem to be much better than US Gov't[0].

Also, the US is also constantly protesting too. What do you think Black Lives Matter, the Google Walkout, the Amazon protests in NYC, the current and ongoing unrest surrounding ICE camps, and the teachers union strike in LA are?

0. https://news.gallup.com/poll/1600/congress-public.aspx

But the GP was trying to point out how France is much better than the US. With a better system, I would expect less protests and better approval ratings.

And I am arguing that approval ratings and protests may not be highly correlated or have causational relationships with the amount of social services.

> I would expect less protests and better approval ratings.

You must not know the French very well, or you wouldn’t expect this. :)

> If they have such an amazing welfare system, then why are the French perennially rioting

because they are alive and free.