France:

1
France

• Political institutions

2
The Fifth Republic

• Unitary
• divided into 21 regions and 95 departments
• Semi-presidential
• President (head of state) is directly elected for
  five year terms (until 2002, seven years)
• Premier (head of government, is appointed by the
  President, but must retain the confidence of the
  National Assembly (lower house of a bi-cameral
  parliament

3
France and its regimes

• 1rst Empire (1796-1815) -- Napoleon
• Monarchy (1815-1848)
• 2nd Empire (1849-70) Louis Napoleon
• Vichy Republic (1940-1944) puppet regime in
  unoccupied south

• 1rst Republic (1791-1796)
• 2nd Republic (1848-49)
• 3rd Republic (1875-1940)
• 4th Republic (1946-1958)
• 5th Republic (1958-present)

4
Origins of the 5th Republic

• Liberation in 1944 gt constitutional debate
• General Charles de Gaulle, Leader of the Free
  French Army, argues that France needs strong
  leadership and a presidential regime
• The President, according to de Gaulle, must be
  above politics, the arbiter of the constitution
• Resistance forces and political parties
  (Communists, Socialists, Christian Democrats)
  favour a parliamentary regime
• 4th Republic established in 1946

5
4th Republic

• Extreme multipartyism
• 6-8 parties represented in the National Assembly
• Parties differ with each other
• Have weak internal discipline
• Problems of cabinet instability
• from 1946-1958, a total of 26 cabinets
• longest in office for 1.5 years, shortest 2-3
  days
• Problems of de-colonization
• Indochina
• Algeria

6
From 4th to 5th Republic

• The Algerian crisis (1958)
• France is trying to keep Algeria French
• Army, defeated in Indochina, is bogged down
• Paratroopers threaten to invade metropolitan
  France unless General De Gaulle brought back to
  power
• Politicians summon De Gaulle
• De Gaulle returns on the condition that he can
  propose a new constitution
• Does so, new constitution approved overwhelmingly
  in a referendum (80 in favour)

7
The Fifth Republic

• Constitution written for De Gaulle to correct
  problems of the 3rd 4th Republics
• Strengthens the executive by
• giving the premier constitutional powers
  equivalent to those enjoyed by a British Prime
  Minister
• However in a multiparty context.
• Weakening the National Assembly and limiting its
  ability to block or remove the premier
• Not expected to outlast De Gaulle, but

8
Features

• Presidential
• President initially indirectly elected, above
  politics
• From 1962, directly elected for 7 year term (from
  2002, 5 years)
• Parliamentary
• Premier, appointed by president, can be censured
  and removed by an absolute majority of the
  National Assembly (lower house)
• Thus semi-presidential a hybrid regime

9
Presidential elections

• President is elected in a two ballot or runoff
  system
• To be elected on the first ballot, a candidate
  must win an absolute majority (501) of the vote
  cast
• If no candidate wins on the first ballot, a
  second ballot is held 2 weeks later
• Lower candidates are dropped
• Candidate with the most votes wins

10
Elections to the National Assembly

• Deputies are elected in single member districts
  on a two ballot or runoff system
• In order to be elected on the first ballot, a
  candidate must win an absolute majority
• If no candidate has an absolute majority, then a
  second runoff ballot is held one week later
• Candidates winning less than 12.5 (1/8) are
  dropped
• Candidate with the most votes a plurality wins

11
The Fifth Republic in practice

• New constitution provides political stability,
  governments which can govern
• New regime is semi-presidential
• Can be dominated by strong presidents if they
  command a majority in the National Assembly
• However, presidents ability to lead or dominate
  weakens if opposition parties have a majority
• If so, results in cohabitation a form of
  power-sharing