1 pages essay

Chapter 9 opens Part II of N-B's three-part study of the French, which looks at Structure, or how the French govern themselves.  Having identified and examined the roots of the French mind-set --"their traditions, their peculiar understanding of privacy, their love of grandeur and rhetoric, and their peculiar brand of political intolerance [which are] the founding pillars of their society" (Introduction, xi),  N-B focus on the importance of Charles de Gaulle and his legacy.  Like Napoleon after the French Revolution, de Gaulle was a mastermind whose vision reignited  the nation's spirit, setting in motion the dramatic restoration after World War II and again during the War in Algeria,  and implementing the reform of its democratic institutions. The Constitution of 1958, which founded the Fifth Republic, accomplished a goal that few might have understood except with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight: it managed "...to overcome the destructive tendencies that had marred French democracy since the French Revolution....  The Constitution contained France's extremist reflex while being quintessentially extreme,....de Gaulle created an elected monarch--the president--who would serve a term limited in length but who could, theoretically, be reelected all his life." (p. 118)

· How are the powers of the French president held in check?

· How do the French incorporate their tradition of being legitimists into their system of electing their president under the Constitution of the Fifth Republic?

· What are the advantages and disadvantages of the French electoral system over the electoral college system used in the US?

· What is the weakness of the French electoral system and how does it compare to the weakness of British-style parliamentary systems

French Political Structure

The French political system is divided into an executive branch, a legislative branch, and a judicial branch. The executive branch includes the President and the government (the Prime Minister and Cabinet of Ministers). The legislative branch consists of the Parliament’s two houses, the National Assembly (l’Assemblée nationale) and the Senate (le Sénat). The judicial branch is headed up by the Minister of Justice (Ministre de la Justice et Garde des Sceaux). The current Minister of Justice under the Macron administration is Nicole Belloubet.

Emmanuel Macron        

Originally elected for a seven-year term, a referendum in 2000 reduced it to five.  He has the authority to name the prime minister to head the executive branch of the government and presides over the cabinet, serves as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and is responsible for concluding treaties. When he feels it is necessary to submit questions to the electorate, he may call for a national referendum. He can dissolve Parliament and call for new elections once every twelve months . He may appoint a prime minister as he chooses, though traditionally presidents generally appoint prime ministers from the party with the elected majority in the National Assembly. If an emergency situation arises, the president may  assume full powers to act on behalf of the nation

The French president's power is limited in only three ways:

1. He must follow the Constitution

2. He is elected by universal suffrage (obtain a clear majority, elected directly by people)

3. He must obey the laws of the Republic

The Judicial Order  The judicial order of courts judges civil and penal cases. It consists of courts, courts of appeal, and the Cour de cassation at its helm. Judges are civil servants, but enjoy special statutory protection from the executive. They may not be moved or promoted without their consent. Their careers are overseen by the High Council of the Magistracy.

The prosecution service, on the other hand, responds to the Minister of Justice. This has in the past led to suspicions of pressures to drop litigation against politicians suspected of corruption, and the topic of the status of the prosecutors comes up regularly in political discussions.

Trial by jury is used in the judgment of the most severe crimes. Pre-judgment proceedings are inquisitorial, but the actual court appearance is rather adversarial. As in all democracies respecting human rights, criminal justice legally respects the presumption of innocence.

Local Government  Traditionally, decision-making in France was highly centralized, with each of France's departments headed by a prefect appointed by the central government. In 1982, the national government passed legislation to decentralize authority by giving a wide range of administrative and fiscal powers to local elected officials. In March 1986, regional councils were directly elected for the first time, and the process of decentralization continues, albeit at a slow pace.

Administrative units with a local government consist in:

· about 36000 communes, headed by a municipal council and a mayor, grouped in

· 100 départements, headed by a conseil général and its president, grouped in

· 22 régions, headed by a regional council and its president.

Different levels of administration have different duties, and shared responsibility is common; for instance, in the field of education, communes run public elementary schools, while départements run public middle schools and régions run public high schools, but only for the building and upkeep of buildings; curricula and teaching personnel are supplied by the national Ministry of Education.

http://www.france.com/culture/display_item.cfm?id=103 Mermier, Guy R.  France: Past and Present.  Peter Lang, 2000