France under the Fifth Republic

Résumé du document

The French Fourth Republic collapsed following the rise of the civil war in Algeria. Its lack of stability, which was a consequence of its parliamentary structure and the weaknesses of its parties, did not manage to survive this major crisis, and pointed out the need for a stronger executive regime. On average, the parties during the fourth republic represented only 15 % of the electorate a piece. The Communist party was actually the strongest at this time, accounting for between 20% and 25% of the vote. All the parties were focused on narrow interests and clienteles and governments were built of very heterogeneous coalitions. Kirchheimer explained that a catch-all party abandoned attempts at the intellectual and moral encadrement of the working class, turning more fully for a wider audience and immediate electoral success . While the Fourth Republic never managed to contribute to the emergence of this type of party, the Fifth Republic wished by De Gaulle and adopted in September by about 80% of the French people, might have introduced a significant turn in the French party system.

Extraits

[...] France under the Fifth Republic The French Fourth Republic collapsed following the rise of the civil war in Algeria. Its lack of stability, which was a consequence of its parliamentary structure and the weaknesses of its parties, did not manage to survive this major crisis, and pointed out the need for a stronger executive regime. On average, the parties during the fourth republic represented only of the electorate a piece. The Communist party was actually the strongest at this time, accounting for between 20% and 25% of the vote. [...]

[...] Sarkozy also chose Christine Boutin as councillor, this latter declared few months ago that Sarkozy had no changes to win if he stood in his ultra-liberal posture. Francois Bayrou is also trying to stand for the centre of French politics, rather than for his party the UDF. He recently purposed that his future government could be made of people from the Left and the civil society. He is also regularly denouncing the medias which according to him “have already decided who will be at the second ballot”. [...]

[...] Laurent Douzou, Histoire de la France Contemporaine, (IEP de Lyon, 2005), course notes. Marie Simon, “Giscard raconte Chirac et les autres”, L'Express, September 2006. Blog de Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, www.nda2007.fr/blog/ Nathalie Raulin, “Bayrou met les gaz pour attaquer l'UMP dès la rentrée”, (Libération, 04/09/2006), www.liberation.fr/actualite/politiques/202137.FR.php Jill Lovecy, End of French Exceptionalism”, in Robert Elgie The Changing French Political System, (Frank Cass London, 2000). Peter Humphreys, Comparative European Politics, Course Guide, (University of Manchester, 2006). Arnauld Miguet, French Elections of 2002: After the Earthquake, the Deluge”, West European Politics, (October 2002) Nabil Wakim, “Sarkozy se pose à la fois en rassembleur et en champion de la droite” , www.lemonde.fr, (14/01/2007) Alain Duhamel, mystère Bayrou”, Libération, (10/01/2006) Otto Kirchheimer, Catch-All Party”, in Peter Mair The West European Party System, Oxford University Press Paul Hainsworth, Right: Divisions and Cleavages in fin de siècle France”, in R. [...]

[...] Chirac also has probably won this election because he appeared likeable to the French. He also appeared this way in the famous and sometimes very critical show Guignols” on the channel Canal Plus. He ended second at the first ballot with 20,8% of the votes, behind Lionel Jospin 23,5% but above Balladur with 18,3%. Chirac won the second ballot with 52,6%[17]. According to François Leotard, Chirac had then succeeded in bringing a ‘more human, less monarchic dimension to the French presidency'[18]. [...]

[...] He refused to vote the 2007 budget. François Bayrou wants to appear as third important candidate in the next Presidential elections”. Many analysts consider Bayrou as a potential surprise in the next elections although the polls give him only about 8-10% of the votes. All these divisions whether there between the parties or inside them don't account for the possible existence of a proper catch-all party in the French right. However, one shouldn't forget the particular French political system, which is often depicted as “L'Exception Française”[12]. [...]