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And it is one of the largest nations in An A modern industrialized country with a large and
prosperous farms A wealthy country Agriculture is still a very important part of the
French economy |
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Three historical legacies seem especially salient in # 1) - # 2) - liberty, justice, equality, and the republican form
of government # 3) Napoleonic or imperial tradition |
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1789 - the Revolution |
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1792 - 1799 ---The 1st Republic |
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1799 1815 - Napoleon - The First Empire tries to
control/conquer |
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1815 - 1848 --- restored Monarchy |
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1848 --- 2nd Revolution |
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1848 1852 --- 2nd Republic |
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1852 - 1870 --- 2nd Empire, Napoleon III |
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1870 --- |
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1871 --- |
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1871 - 1940 --- 3rd Republic |
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1940 - 1944 --- defeat in WW II German occupation &
Vichy Regime (puppet of |
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1945 - 1958 --- 4th
Republic |
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1958 --- revolt of the Generals |
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1958 - 2005 --- 5th Republic |
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French Government & Constitution |
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Both a President with power and a Prime Minister |
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before 1958 |
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President the 5th Republic, Charles de Gaulle Intended to be above party politics Symbol and authority of national power President is popularly elected (since 1965) in a
run-off election President must win 51% - which usually requires a
run-off Which is held 2 weeks afterwards] 7 year term |
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President: Powers Appoints the prime minister and the other cabinet
ministers Must sign all laws and has very limited veto power may ask parliament to reconsider a law within 2 weeks
of it having been voted May issue presidential decrees but these have to be signed by PM Chair of the council of ministers Chair of high council of the armed forces Right to send messages to parliament Ratifies treaties after parliamentary approval Power of pardon |
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President: Emergency Powers Right to dissolve parliament and call new elections Right to decide that constitutional amendments do not
need popular referendum to go into effect Right to refer certain pieces of legislation to a
public referendum (social & economic matters, organization of government,
treaties) Right to assume emergency power under certain
situations (such as attempted coup) |
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President Jacques Chirac President since 1995 Former PM Former Mayor of Party is the UMP Conservative, right |
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Prime Minister Also called Premiere Runs the government on day-to-day basis Main power is that it is the PM and his cabinet who
propose the laws to and these about 80% of the laws (private member bills are also allowed) |
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Prime Minister May invoke a power called blocked vote forces parliament to vote up or down a bill without
amendments being allowed used more and more frequently May invoke governments responsibility on any bill the bill is adopted unless Deputies wish to force a
motion of censure even if parliament tries to make a motion or vote of
censure, these are not often successful because abstentions
are counted as votes against censure and (if successful, a motion of censure forces a new and
early election) In those cases when the National Assembly has been
controlled by a party different than the presidents party who would be PM was in question, but French
presidents have gone along with the wishes of the NA and appointed the person
they have selected Cohabitation |
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Prime Minister New Since Old PM resigned following No vote on EU
Constitution Dominique de Villepin Party is the UMP Conservative, right |
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Bicameral National Assembly - lower house - 5 year terms (unless
parliament is dissolved) directly elected - members are called Deputies - 577
members all finance bills must originate here has the final word when there is disagreement between
it and the Senate Senate - upper house - 9 year terms, with 1/3
selected every three years - 321 members Is a Grand Council of French Communes Elected by a complex electoral college that consists
of local (municipal, regional, & department) political leaders and the
National Assembly 2 for each department (county) Constitutional Council Power to determine constitutionality of new laws Made up of nine members, who serve nine-year terms 3 appointed by the president, 3 appointed by the
speaker of the National Assembly, and 3 by the speaker of the Senate |
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Elections National
Assembly every 5 years, unless called earlier by Presidential
(or theoretically NA) dissolution of the government single member district 2 stage election after 1st stage - every candidate w/ 12.5% goes to 2nd
round parties tend to cooperate at this stage and weaker
candidates of similar parties withdraw |
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Referendums used more as plebiscites - approval or disapproval of
already established policy more common under de Gaulle (President 1958 - 1972) now rare - last important one was May 2005 vote on
the E.U. Constitution |
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Political Parties A polarized
multi-party system Party discipline and cohesion weak (a surprising
outcome for a parliamentary system) this was downfall of 3rd and 4th Republics frequent conflict - governments didnt last very long immobilization - unable to get anything done although the office of the president was intended to
help fix these tendencies, presidential elections actually exacerbate party
discipline |
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Political Parties In the 2002 elections 15 parties won votes, but only
5 win seats The Main important Parties: UPM - the UDF - PS - Socialist Party - left-wing working class
following 15 to 30% following PCF - French Communist Party - a true unreformed
Western communist party surprisingly high support = 20% before 1980 after
1980 about 10% Popularity? - French heritage of revolutionary
thought and WWII resistance NF - National Front - far right - xenophobic
nationalist party - 10 - 15% Greens (Verts) - new left,
pro-environmentalism 6 - 10 % |
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Political Parties, 2002 Results |
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French Attitudes- 1 Climate of
mistrust distant and
mistrustful of persons outside their own family also both distrust and have high expectations of
government this set of attitudes is said to be bad for democracy French Attitudes- 2 Religious cleavage only 12% regularly go to church but most are married in church and almost all the private schools in but in part, a revolution against the power of the church and in return the church was anti-Republican Differences are reflected in the parties - the left
is anti-religion and the right is pro-catholic Also, about 3 million are Muslim French Attitudes- 3 Class differences - class identity has been on the
decline, but still about 60% of identify with a specific class however, since equality is more valued in France,
inter-class antagonism remains relatively high - France is still a class
conscious society especially in higher education - Frances great
universities are the grandes ιcoles
- exclusive, but they do allow in the very, very best students from any class
well sort of you see students from exclusive private high schools seem
to have the best chance to be admitted a guarantee of success - especially in Ιcole Polytechnique
(originally for military engineers) Ιcole Normal Supιrieure - leading intellectuals Ιcole Nationale
dAdministration - government service Not helped by the fact that Class differences tend to parallel other cleavages in
French society & politics |
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French Politics 1 Small shopkeepers and farmers vs. Megolomart - often a flash point in French politics Many demonstrations, protests, marches, even riots French Politics 2 Wealth Gap - largest in Still a large underclass poorly educated and
illiterate Try to tax their way into greater wealth equality,
but French wealthy are masters at avoiding taxes And French Politics 3 Race - 3 to 4 million Muslims National Front party is anti-immigrant |