France: présidentalisation?

Thèmes abordés

France système politique partis présidentialiation

Résumé du document

The Fifth Republic wanted to break with the system of parties in the first half of the century, particularly because of the instability of the parliamentary system of the Fourth Republic. One major evolution in political and institutional areas gradually shaped a new system of parties under the Fifth Republic by remodelling the political landscape: the presidential election with a direct universal suffrage in two rounds. It led to a polarization of the political landscape. Both "fait majoritaire" and rationalization of the Parliament ensured the stability of the government.
Despite the recent issues with the succession of alternations and cohabitations, the French parties' system is still a bipolar system, which leads to representative issues.

Extraits

[...] Präsidentialisiertes Parteiensystem? Fallbeispiel: Frankreich The Fifth Republic wanted to break with the system of parties in the first half of the century, particularly because of the instability of the parliamentary system of the Fourth Republic. One major evolution in political and institutional areas gradually shaped a new system of parties under the Fifth Republic by remodelling the political landscape: the presidential election with a direct universal suffrage in two rounds. It led to a polarization of the political landscape. Both “fait majoritaire” and rationalization of the Parliament ensured the stability of the government. [...]

[...] One of the few parties today, which does not clearly support the system is the Olivier Besancenot ‘s party, called the Nouveau Parti Anti-capitaliste (NPA). It has never clearly enounced it's opinion about a possible takeover other than the ones proposed by the Fifth Republic. In conclusion, the reform of the mode of election of the President in 1962 has led to a bipolarity deeply inked in the Fifth Republic. This bipolarity has led to questioning the representativity of the electorate. [...]

[...] This has lead to a major line of conflict in France: the representation. As we have said previously only candidates supported by one of the both major parties access to the highest offices of state. In the first round of presidential elections in 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy obtained of the vote, which is not a real majority. This system of election of the president is supposed to give important legitimacy to the president. However of votes (without taking into account absenteeism) does not seem sufficient to obtain such a legitimacy. [...]

[...] The Front de Gauche therefore agrees that it will never be elected, but expects a coalition with the PS. Again we are in a bipolar logic. Up to now, almost none of the French parties were positioned against the system in place promoting only two parties. For example in May 1968, the Parti Communiste Français (PCF) could have taken power by force or by others unconstitutional ways, especially given to the international context. It was not the case, and the Communist Party, though initially opposed to the Fifth Republic, finally legitimized the system in place. [...]

[...] This fact can be applied to almost the entire Fifth republic except the election of Valery Giscard d'Estaing in 1974. The presidential election is not the only one to promote large parties of left and right: in fact, the single-member two-ballot majority system of parliamentary elections also penalises isolated parties. It explains why a party such as the Front National which has a relative electoral support in some “circonscriptions” and has almost never been willing / able to form an alliance with other parties of its colour, isn't represented by any deputy or senator and owns only one City Hall in a relative important city (Orange). [...]