1. Politics in France
The political system

2. French Republic: the basics
Population: 66 million
Constitutional republic
Unitary state
Semi-presidential system (President and a Prime Minister)
First Past the Post (FPTP) electoral system with “Two-round” process
Bicameral Legislature: National Assembly and Senate

3. 5 Republics & 2 Empires
First Republic was ended (1803) by Napoleon’s First Empire
Second Republic was ended (1851) by Napoleon III’s Second Empire
Third Republic was ended (1940) by German occupation
Fourth Republic ( )
Fifth Republic (1958-Present)

4. Fourth Republic (1946 - 1958) Crises of the Fourth Republic
24 governments in 12 years

5. 1958 Constitution
Passed referendum which increased powers of the president

6. President of the Fifth Republic
directly elected by voters (since 1962)
renewable term of 5 years (since 2000)

7. President’s power Head of state appoints prime minister
appoint ministers
Can dissolve the National Assembly
submit legislation to a referendum
emergency power (up to 6 months)
Commander-in-chief of the armed forces

8. The Prime Minister
Is subordinate to the President except in those circumstances when the prime minister comes from a different party
Under co-habitation, the powers of both leaders are equal
Prime Minister is responsible for domestic affairs while President is commander in chief and deals with foreign affairs
Prime Minister has same power as prime ministers in a parliamentary system (chooses cabinet), but needs to have support of the lower assembly and the President

9. Presidential elections
elected by absolute majority of votes
no presidential candidate has obtained the absolute majority on the first ballot
if no candidate wins majority in first ballot
the top two candidates stand for election in a second runoff ballot
impact on voter turnout (80% turnout in 2012 compared to 58% in 2012 U.S. election)

10. President & Prime Minister
President appoints and chooses prime minister and other ministers
President chairs the Council of Ministers
Prime minister has to harness parliamentary majority for presidential policies

11. Example of the Two-round system
French Presidential Election 2002
Round 1:
Jacques Chirac: 19.88%
Jean-Marie Le Pen: 16.86%
Lionel Jospin: 16.18%
Round 2:
Jacques Chirac: 82.12%
Jean-Marie Le Pen: 17.82%
Jean-Marie Le Pen

12. President & Prime Minister
When president and the prime minister are from the same political party, the prime minister is subordinate to president
Cohabitation
president and prime minister from different political parties
, ,

13. Legislature
Power of parliament was restricted by the 1958 Constitution of the Fifth Republic
Two houses (bicameral)
National Assembly
577 members
Senate
348 members

14. Parliament incompatibility clause bloc (blocked) vote
members of parliament have to give up their seats once appointed to a cabinet
bloc (blocked) vote
National Assembly have to vote either for or against the government’s draft as a whole
cannot offer any amendments to the bill
L’assemble Nationale

15. Senate Senators are indirectly elected by an electoral college
less than 150,000 people select senators
municipal, departmental, and regional council members
rural constituencies are over-represented
Senate can initiate legislation

16. Senate Senate must consider all bills adopted by the National Assembly
if the two houses disagree
government can appoint a joint committee to try to resolve the differences
government can re-submit the bill to the National Assembly for a definitive vote

18. National Assembly elections
Single-member district
577 districts
two-ballot system
if no candidate wins a majority, a second ballot is held one week later
any candidate winning at least 12.5% of the vote on the first ballot can run on the second
incentives for parties to develop electoral alliances
French presidential election, Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia