Govt and Pol. European - France

8/11/2019 Govt and Pol. European - France

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Government and Politics of Selected European States

France

Midterm Period

The watershed event in European History:

French Revolution began in 1789 and ended

in the late 1790s with the ascent of

Napoleon Bonaparte*. During this period,

French citizens razed and redesigned their

countrys political landscape, uprooting

centuries-old institutions such as absolute

monarchy and the feudal system.

Enlightenment Ideals:

French Revolution was influenced by

Enlightenment ideals, particularly the

concepts of popular sovereignty and

inalienable rights. Although it failed to

achieve all of its goals and at times

degenerated into a chaotic bloodbath, the

movement played a critical role in shaping

modern nations by showing the world thepower inherent in the will of the people.

Origin of the Revolution:

Historians disagree in evaluating the factorsthat brought about the Revolution. To someextent at least, it came not because Francewas backward, but because the country'seconomic and intellectual development wasnot matched by social and political change.

In the fixed order of the ancien rgime,most bourgeois were unable to exercisecommensurate political and social influence.King Louis XIV, by consolidating absolutemonarchy, had destroyed the roots offeudalism; yet outward feudal formspersisted and became increasinglyburdensome.

France was still governed by privileged

groupsthe nobility and the clergywhile

the productive classes were taxed heavily to

pay for foreign wars, court extravagance,

and a rising national debt. For the most

part, peasants were small landholders or

tenant farmers, subject to feudal dues, to

the royal agents indirectfarming (collecting)

taxes, to thecorve (forced labour), and to

tithes and other impositions. Backward

agricultural methods and internal tariffbarriers caused recurrent food shortages,

which netted fortunes to grain speculators,

and rural overpopulation created land

hunger.

In addition to the economic and social

difficulties, the ancien rgime was

undermined intellectually by the apostles of

theEnlightenment.

Economic reform, advocated bythephysiocrats (177476), was thwarted bythe unwillingness of privileged groups tosacrifice any privileges and by the king'sfailure to support strong measures.

The direct cause of the Revolution was the

chaotic state of government finance.

Effects of the Revolution:

The French Revolution, though it seemed a

failure in 1799 and appeared nullified by

1815, had far-reaching results. In France

the bourgeois and landowning classes

emerged as the dominant power. Feudalism

was dead; social order and contractual

relations were consolidated by theCode

Napolon.The Revolution unified France
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and enhanced the power of the national

state. The Revolutionary and Napoleonic

Wars tore down the ancient structure of

Europe, hastened the advent of nationalism,

and inaugurated the era of modern, total

warfare.

French Political Culture:

The government of France is a uniquehybrid of presidential and parliamentarysystems that reflect rich political traditionsand culture - The conflictual political cultureof France currently is somewhat moreconsensual than in the past.

Economic, Social and Geographical Characteristics

French political culture is greatly influenceby economic, social, and geographicalcharacteristics of France.

Important characteristics of the Frenchpopulation have shaped the political culture.France is the least densely populatedcountry in Europe, with an approximatepopulation of 57 million. Although thetypical French citizen lives in an urban areatoday, the agricultural areas of Franceremain strong. A big social and economicgap exists between Parisiens and the rest of

the country with per capita income in Parisabout 60% higher than in the rest of thecountry. The Northeast Quadrant aroundParis is highly urbanized and industrialized,while the west and the south remain ruraland agricultural. France is famous for itswine, produce, poultry, grains, and geese.

The geography of France has influenced itspolitical, economic, and culturaldevelopment. Its fertile soil has played alarge role in the country's reputation as a

world culinary centre. France has extensivecoastal areas on the Atlantic Ocean, EnglishChannel, and Mediterranean Sea, so fishingand shipping play a significant role in theFrench economy.

Importance of Ideology and History

The French are fascinated with their ownhistory and love abstract and symbolicdiscussions. Perhaps this moderncharacteristics has its roots in the days ofthe absolute monarchs when intellectualsand bourgeoisie had no status, and inresponse to their demands, the monarchsgave them the right to discuss abstractionsfreely.

Distrust of Government and Politics

The modern tendency to distrustgovernment probably has its roots in theFrench Revolution and the resulting conflictsbetween monarchists and republicans. Thetendency to think that centralizedgovernment is not to be trusted does not

affect the loyalty that the local governmentofficials or representatives inspire. Thecitizen seems to believe that all deputies tothe National Assembly are not to be trusted,with the exception of his/her own.

Nationalism

The legitimacy of the government is basedlargely on a broad-based nationalism, apride in France, love of history, and instinctto preserve French culture that is alive inthe hearts of most French citizens. Despitethe conflict and disagreements, Frenchpolitical culture is held together by this veryimportant nationalism.

Conflictual Political Culture

A very strong characteristic of the Frenchpolitical culture is the agreement todisagree. The division in political opinionsinto "left" and "right" goes back to the

French Revolution, and remains animportant force today. Consensus often hasbeen reached by uniting behind a strong,charismatic leader, only to be lost when theleader dies or goes into disfavour. Cycles ofconsensus followed by alienation seem tobe typical of the French political culture.


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Election in France:

France is arepresentative democracy.

Public officials in the legislative and

executive branches are either elected by the

citizens (directly or indirectly) or appointed

by elected officials.

Referendums may also be called to consult

the French citizenry directly on a particular

question, especially one which concerns

amendment to theConstitution.

France elects on its national level a head of

statethepresidentand a legislature

The president is elected for a five-year term

(previously, seven years), directly by thecitizens.

In addition, French citizens elect a variety of

local governments. There also are public

elections for some non-political positions,

such as those for the judges of courts

administeringlabor law (conseils de

prud'hommes), elected by workers and

employers, or those for judges

administering cases of rural land leases.

France does not have a full-fledgedtwo-

party system;that is, a system where,

though many political parties may exist,

only two parties are relevant to the

dynamics of power.

However French politics displays some

tendencies characterizing a two-party

system in which power alternates betweenrelatively stable coalitions, each being led

by a major party: on theleft,theSocialist

Party,on theright,theUMP and its

predecessors.

Note:

Elections are conducted according to rules

set in theConstitution of France,

organisational laws (lois organiques), and

theelectoral code.

Elections are always held on Sundays in

France.

The campaigns end at midnight the Friday

before the election; then, on election

Sunday, by law, no polls can be published,

no electoral publication and broadcasts can

be made.

The voting stations open at 8 am and close

at 6 pm in small towns or at 8 pm in cities,

depending onprefectoral decisions.

By law, publication of results or estimates

is prohibited prior to that time; such results

are however often available from the media

of e.g. Belgium and Switzerland, or from

foreign Internet sites, prior to that time.

The first estimate of the results are thus

known at Sunday, 8pm, Paris time; one

consequence is that voters in e.g.French

Guiana,Martinique andGuadeloupe knew

the probable results of elections whereas

they had not finished voting, which

allegedly discouraged them from voting.

For this reason, since the 2000s, elections

in French possessions in the Americas, as

well as embassies and consulates there, are

held on Saturdays as a special exemption.
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The French Parliament:

(French:Parlement franais) isthebicameral legislature of theFrenchRepublic,consisting of theSenate (Snat)and theNational Assembly (Assemblenationale).

Each assembly conducts legislative sessions

at a separate location in Paris: thePalais duLuxembourg for the Senate and thePalaisBourbon for the National Assembly.

Each house has its own regulations andrules of procedure. However, they mayoccasionally meet as a single house,theFrench Congress (Congrs du Parlementfranais), convened at theChteau de

Versailles,to revise and amendtheConstitution of France.

Parliament meets for one nine-monthsession each year: under specialcircumstances thePresident can call anadditional session. Although parliamentarypowers have diminished from those existingunder theFourth Republic,the National

Assembly can still cause a government tofall if anabsolute majority of the total

Assembly membership votes acensuremotion.As a result, the "gouvernement"(the term is similar to "cabinet" in the UK or"administration" in the USA, and consists ofthePrime Minister and ministers) may be

from the same political party as theAssembly and should be supported by amajority there to prevent a "motion decensure" or vote of no-confidence.

However, the President appoints the PrimeMinister and the ministers and is under noconstitutional, mandatory obligation tomake those appointments from the ranks ofthe parliamentary majority party; this is asafe-guard specifically introduced by thefounder of the Fifth Republic,Charles DeGaulle,to prevent the disarray and horse-trading caused by the Third and FourthRepublics parliamentary rgimes; in practicethe prime minister and ministers do comefrom the majority althoughPresidentSarkozy did appoint Socialistministers or secretary of state-level juniorministers to his government. Rare periodsduring which thePresident of France is notfrom the same political party as the PrimeMinister are usually known ascohabitation.

The President chairs the "conseil desministres", not the Prime Minister.

Thecabinet (in French: "gouvernement" or,when it sits in session every Wednesday"conseil des ministres") has a stronginfluence in shaping the agenda ofParliament.

The government also can link its term to a

legislative text which it proposes, andunless a motion of censure is introduced(within 24 hours after the proposal) andpassed (within 48 hours of introductionthus full procedures last at most 72 hours),the text is considered adopted without avote. However, this procedure has beenlimited by the 2008 constitutionalamendment. Legislative initiative rests withthe National Assembly.

Members of Parliament enjoyparliamentary

immunity.Both assemblies have committees

that write reports on a variety of topics. Ifnecessary, they can establish parliamentaryenquiry commissions with broadinvestigative power.

However, the latter possibility is almostnever exercised, since the majority canreject a proposition by the opposition tocreate an investigation commission. Also,such a commission may only be created if itdoes not interfere with a judiciaryinvestigation, meaning that in order to

cancel its creation, one just needs to presscharges on the topic concerned by theinvestigation commission. Since 2008, theopposition may impose the creation of aninvestigation commission once a year, evenagainst the wishes of the majority.However, they still can't lead investigationsif there is a judiciary case going on already(or started after the commission wasformed).

*Napoleon Bonaparte- He implemented a wide array ofliberal reforms

across Europe, including the abolition offeudalism and the spreadofreligious toleration. The first emperor of France, is regarded as one

of the greatest military leaders in the history of the West.

* After a series of costly foreign wars that weakened the government, the French Revolutionplunged France into a bloodbath beginning in 1789 with the establishment of the FirstRepublic and ending with a new authoritarianism under Napolon Bonaparte, who hadsuccessfully defended the infant republic from foreign attack and then made himself firstconsul in 1799 and emperor in 1804. The Congress of Vienna (1815) sought to restore thepre-Napoleonic order in the person of Louis XVIII, but industrialization and the middle class,both fostered under Napolon, built pressure for change, and a revolution in 1848 drove LouisPhilippe, last of the Bourbons, into exile. Prince Louis Napolon, a nephew of Napolon I,declared the Second Empire in 1852 and took the throne as Napolon III. His opposition to therising power of Prussia ignited the Franco-Prussian War (18701871), which ended in hisdefeat, his abdication, and the creation of the Third Republic.
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Govt and Pol. European - France