FRENCH GOVERNMENT

By Jose Guzman and Andregina Gomez

France is a republic

2012 election was going to be a close

victory. In the event, Socialist candidate

François Hollande won the night with

51.9% of the vote to Nicolas Sarkozy’s

48.1%.

Hollande campaigned on a kinder,

gentler, more inclusive France, but

defeated Nicolas Sarkozy. However,

Hollande and Sarkozy had promised to

balance the budget in the next five years.

POLITICAL SYSTEM

POLITICAL SYSTEM (CONT.)

The President, who is also supreme commander of

the military, has a term of 5 years (use to be 7 by the

Fifth Republic), determines policy with the aid of his

Council of Ministers. The President appoints a prime

minister (currently François Fillon) , who forms a

government.

POLITICAL SYSTEM (CONT.)

The main political parties are:

On the right: The Popular Union Movement, of

which Nicolas Sarkozy was leader before becoming

President. The UMP has a majority in the National

Assembly.

Centre left: The Democratic Movement

On the left: the Socialist party- the main opposition

party.

Centre right: the New Centre

ECONOMIC SYSTEMFrance has a mixed economy which combines

extensive private enterprise with substantial state

enterprise and government intervention.

France has the world's fifth largest economy by

nominal figures and the ninth largest economy by

PPP figures. It has the second largest economy in

Europe in nominal figures and third largest economy

in Europe in PPP figures.

FOREIGN POLICY

France is a member of the United Nations and serves as one

of the permanent members of the UN Security Council with

veto rights. It is also a member of the G8, World Trade

Organization (WTO), the Secretariat of the Pacific Community

(SPC)and the Indian Ocean Commission (COI). It is an associate

member of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS)and a

leading member of the International Francophone Organization

(OIF) of fifty-one fully or partly French-speaking countries

FOREIGN POLICY (CONT.)

France's annual military expenditure in 2010 was

US$61.3 billion, or 2.5% of its GDP, making it the

third biggest military spender in the world after

China and the United States of America

HEALTHCAREThe French healthcare system was ranked first worldwide by the

World Health Organization in 1997 and then again in 2000.

Care is generally free for people affected by chronic diseases, such as

cancer, AIDS or Cystic Fibrosis.

Average life expectancy at birth is 78 years for men and 85 years for

women, one of the highest of the European Union.

There are 3.22 physicians for every 1000 inhabitants in France, and

average health care spending per capita was US$4,719 in 2008.

As of 2007, 140,000 inhabitants (0.4%) of France are living with

HIV/AIDS

EDUCATION

The schooling system in France is centralized, and is composed

of three stages, primary education, secondary education, and

higher education.

The Programme for International Student Assessment,

coordinated by the OECD, currently ranks France's education as

the 25th best in the world, being neither significantly higher nor

lower than the OECD average.

Primary and secondary education are predominantly public, run

by the Ministry of National Education.

ENVIRONMENTFrance was one of the first countries to create a Ministry of the

Environment, in 1971.

It is ranked 17th by carbon dioxide emissions, behind such less

populous nations as Canada, Saudi Arabia or Australia. This

situation results from the French government's decision to invest

in nuclear power in 1974 (after the 1973 oil crisis), which now

accounts for 78% of France's electricity production and explains

why France pollutes less than comparable countries.

France is located in Western Europe and is between

west coast of the Atlantic Ocean and south east coast of

the Mediterranean Sea

France has a number of territories in North America,

the Caribbean, South America, the southern Indian

Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, and Antarctica. These

territories have varying forms of government ranging

from overseas department to overseas collectivity.

France's overseas departments and collectivities share

land borders with Brazil, and Suriname (bordering

French Guiana), and Sint Maarten (bordering Saint-

Martin).

France can be Mediterranean climate to below freezing

and snowy

GEOGRAPHY

CITATIONShttp://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3842.html (A website that explains what France

government is all about.)

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/france/

index.html (An Article from the New York Times about France Government)

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/france/

index.html (An article explaining the aspects of France’s Government.)

http://www.brookings.edu/research/articles/2001/03/france-duhamel (An Article

about France’s Presidential candidates.)

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/francois_hollande/

index.html (Article about Francois Hollande and his political views.)