The Constitution of the Fifth Republic endows the president with the ceremonial powers of head of state. The president, who holds a five-year term, is the only official chosen in a nation-wide election. The constitution grants the president vital political powers, including the right to name the Prime Minister and other cabinet officials, as well as high-ranking civil, military, and judicial officials. He can officiate meetings of the council of ministers, conduct foreign affairs, direct the armed forces, dissolve the National Assembly, appoint three of the nine members of the Constitutional Council, and refer bills passed by parliament to the council. He is also enabled to assume emergency powers, sponsor a national referendum, and with the approval of the Prime Minister, propose constitutional amendments. The Constitution of the Fifth Republic in effect produces a strong president.
What makes the regime semi-presidential is the existence, alongside the president, of a government or a cabinet headed by a Prime Minister chosen by the president. In cohabitation periods, the Prime Minister takes charge for devising and implementing policy. The government answers to a popularly elected parliament. The cabinet is a collective body under the Prime Minister’s control. Members advise the bureaucracy and partake in forming policy initiatives that, after receiving the approval of the government and president, constitute the legislative agenda. The cabinet has little power, and on the other hand, the French bureaucracy has immense power and self-rule.
Parliament lacks sovereignty from the executive. The French parliament does not hold a forum for national debates or check governmental abuses of power. Parliament is bicameral, the two chambers being the National Assembly and the Senate. It is authorized to legislate only in those areas specified in the constitution and is granted two parliamentary sessions a year. Parliament’s restrained autonomy critically limits representative processes in France.
The French majority democracy works in a unique way. Not only does France have two elections by the people, but they both influence choice of the government. An important change in French political culture has been the growth of widespread support for the Constitution of the Fifth Republic because political institutions had become more responsive. The result is the development of greater balance between democratic institutions and the statist tradition. The Fifth Republic was tested in 1981, when the Socialist Party allies dominated government. Contrary to creating political turmoil, political stability was reinforced by proving that the political institutions of the Fifth Republic provided an ample framework for organizing political strife and change. Public opinion strongly favors institutional stability. Consequently, the regime reflects a fairly capable balance between state autonomy and democratic participation.
In the current Fifth Republic, enormous executive power is given to the President. His government is composed of a Council of Ministers, led by a . The legislative power, known as the Parliament consists of the and the Senate. The 1958 Constitution gave France a lasting and accepted regime. The stress on the powers of the President was balanced by a similar emphasis for a call for clear separation of legislature, executive and judicial powers. The constitution of the Fifth Republic represents, largely through the rights it guarantees, the sources of power within the French nation. Despite criticism that the executive is too powerful, the Fifth Republic has become one of the most stable regimes in French history.
Kesselman, Mark, Joel Krieger, and William A. Joseph. Comparative Politics at the Crossroads. Page132.
