France (2010)

Political Rights Score: 1

Capital: Paris
Civil Liberties Score: 1
Population: Status: Free
62,621,000

Overview

Several commissions reviewed a range of issues in France in 2009, including those related
to the judiciary, measuring the country's ethnic composition, the French administrative
system, and the wearing of burqas. Meanwhile, a month-long general strike in Guadeloupe
and Martinique led to a governmental increase in payments to low-wage workers.

 
After the French Revolution of 1789, republics alternated with monarchist regimes until the
creation of the Third Republic in 1871. The Fourth Republic was established after World War II,
but it eventually fell victim to domestic political turbulence and a series of colonial setbacks. In
1958, Charles de Gaulle, France’s wartime leader, returned to create the strong presidential
system of the Fifth Republic, which stands today.

Jacques Chirac, a right-leaning Gaullist, was first elected president in 1995. In the 2002
presidential election, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the head of the far-right, xenophobic National Front,
stunned France and the world by receiving more votes than Lionel Jospin, the prime minister and
head of the rival center-left Socialist Party (PS), in the first round. Chirac, with Socialist support,
defeated Le Pen overwhelmingly in the second round. Support for the National Front has since
declined but continues to impact politics in the form of certain law-and-order policies.

In early 2003, France joined Russia in blocking UN Security Council authorization for the U.S.-
led invasion of Iraq. France’s stance severely strained its relations with the United States, but
bolstered Chirac’s popularity at home. After the invasion, Chirac moved to strengthen the
European Union (EU) as a counterweight to U.S. power.

A strong EU foreign policy was a key French goal in the drafting of a new EU constitutional
accord. However, French voters rejected the proposed constitution in a 2005 referendum. Its
successor, the Lisbon Treaty, which incorporated many of the key institutional changes of the
failed constitution, was signed by the government in February 2008without a referendum. In
April 2009,France rejoined NATO’s integrated military command, from which de Gaulle had
withdrawn in 1966 because he believed it constrained French sovereignty.

In late 2005, the accidental deaths of two teenagers of North African descent who were fleeing
police touched off weeks of violent riots. Most of the rioters were youths descended from
immigrants from North and sub-Saharan Africa. Despite their French birth and citizenship, many
reported discrimination and harassment by police in recent anticrime operations. The violence
provoked a major discussion about the failure to fully integrate minorities into French society.

The ruling Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) nominated party leader Nicolas Sarkozy as its
candidate for the 2007 presidential elections. Sarkozy had suffered a drop in popularity as
interior minister following the 2005 riots, as he was associated with harsh policing tactics.
Sarkozy’s law-and-order message, pro-American foreign-policy views, opposition to Turkish EU
membership, and other positions made him a controversial candidate. The PS nominated
Segolene Royal, the first woman to be chosen by a major political party. Sarkozy won the May
election in the second round, with 53 percent of the vote, and the UMP renewed its majority in
subsequent parliamentary elections. Sarkozy appointed a popular Socialist, Bernard Kouchner, as
foreign minister, and a North African–descended Muslim woman, Rachida Dati, as justice
minister. Dati, who had always been a controversial figure, stepped down when she was elected
to the European Parliament in June 2009.

The government’s popularity declined in late 2007 when riots erupted after two teenagers of
African descent were killed in a collision with a police car. Unlike in 2005, the riots were better
organized, and scores of police were wounded. By May 2008, the president’s popularity was the
lowest of any first-year president in 50 years. While Sarkozy’s reputation recovered somewhat
with a revived foreign and domestic agenda, including economic liberalization, his popularity
again declined with the global financial crisis, when Sarkozy began vocally criticizing laissez-
faire capitalism. The economic downturn has caused an increase in already high unemployment
and incited many protests in 2009, including some militant demonstrations.The UMP won
European Parliament elections in June despite Sarkozy’s continuing unpopularity.

Sarkozy in 2009 proposed a plan to improve administrative efficiency by redrawing local and
regional administrative boundaries. Socialists have criticized the plan, alleging that the reforms
aim to reduce their influence in regions where they dominate. The proposals were still under
review at year’s end.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

France is an electoral democracy. The president and members of the key house of Parliament, the
577-seat National Assembly, are elected to five-year terms; the upper house, the 321-seat Senate,
is an indirectly elected body. The prime minister must be able to command a majority in
Parliament. Until 1986, the president and prime minister were always of the same party, and the
president was the most powerful figure in the country. However, since 1986, there have been
periods lasting several years (such as 1997–2002) in which the president and prime minister
belonged to rival parties. In such circumstances, the prime minister has the dominant role in
domestic affairs, while the president largely guides foreign policy.
Parties organize and compete on a free and fair basis. The center-left PS and the center-right
UMP are the largest parties, but others with significant support range from the largely
unreformed French Communist Party on the left to the anti-immigrant and anti-EU National
Front on the right. France remains a relatively unitary state, with some political and
administrative powers devolved to regions, departments, towns, and cities, but with key
decisions made in Paris.

Members of the French elite, trained in a small number of prestigious schools, often move
between politics and business, increasing opportunities for corruption. President Jacques Chirac
used his immunity as head of state a number of times to avoid prosecution on corruption
allegations stemming from his time as mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995. However,formal
corruption charges were brought against the former president in 2009 though no trial had begun
by year’s end. In October 2009, Chirac’s interior minister, Charles Pasqua, was sentenced to a
year in prison for involvement in arms trafficking to the Angolan government in the 1990s.
France was ranked 24 out of 180 countries surveyed in Transparency International’s 2009
Corruption Perceptions Index.

The media operate freely and represent a wide range of political opinion. Though an 1881 law
forbids “offending” various personages, including the president and foreign heads of state, the
press remains lively and critical. However, journalists covering events involving the National
Front or the Corsican separatist movement have been harassed and have come under legal
pressure to reveal sources. Journalists generally face difficulty covering unrest in the volatile
suburbs, including several injuries during the 2005 and 2007 riots. An intern for Le Monde was
arrested in July 2009 and held overnight for covering demonstrations against police violence in
Montreuil, even after he had identified himself as a journalist to authorities. Journalists have
been pressured by courts to reveal sources when they report on criminal cases and when they
publish material from confidential court documents. In March 2009, the government raided the
offices of a TV production company in search of the incriminating footage of an interview with a
top Martinique businessman, although nothing was taken. While internet access is generally
unrestricted, a controversial law passed by the National Assembly in September and approved by
the Constitutional Court in October sanctions users who are found illegally downloading music
and films. Under the new law, three warnings will be issued before internet access is
disconnected, with suspensions lasting up to a year. Repeat offenders could face heavy fines of
up to $43,900 or two years in prison.

Freedom of religion is protected by the constitution, and strong antidefamation laws prohibit
religiously motivated attacks. Denial of the Nazi Holocaust is illegal. France maintains the policy
of laicite, whereby religion and government affairs are strictly separated.A 2004 law bans
“ostentatious” religious symbols in schools. While widely believed to be aimed at the hijab—a
headscarf worn by some Muslim women and girls—the controversial ban was supported by most
voters, including many Muslims. In 2008, a woman was denied citizenship for wearing the
burqa, which covers the entire body, and thus failing to assimilate. A commission to investigate
the wearing of burqas in France is due to publish its report in early 2010, although reportedly
less than 400 women—mostly French converts—wear them. Academic freedom is generally
respected by French authorities.

Freedoms of assembly and association are respected. Civic organizations and nongovernmental
organizations can operate freely. Trade union organizations are weak, and membership has
declined over the past two decades. Nevertheless, civil service unions remain relatively strong,
and strike movements generally gain wide public support.

France has an independent judiciary, and the rule of law is firmly established. Citizens are
generally treated equally.However, the country’s antiterrorism campaign has included
surveillance of mosques, and unrelated government raids, such as those involving tax violations,
have appeared to target businesses owned or frequented by Muslims, like halal butcher
shops.Terrorism suspects can be detained for up to four days without being charged. Amnesty
International accused French authorities in April 2009 of failing to investigate alleged police
abuse, which the group claimed typically targets ethnic minorities. France has some of the most
overcrowded prisons in Europe and suicides are common, prompting a new penitentiary law in
2009 that includes alternatives to prison, such as parole and electronic bracelets.  In August a
committee on penal reform controversially recommended theabolition ofthe investigative judge,
a post that has been responsible for many corruption and other high-level investigations of
French officials.

French law forbids the categorization of people according to ethnic origin, and no statistics are
collected on ethnicity. However, the violence of 2005and 2007 fueled concerns about Arab and
African immigration and the failure of integration policies in France, where minorities are
woefully underrepresented in leadership positions in both the private and public sectors. From
2007 to 2009, Rachida Dati served as the first Muslim justice minister and the first person of
non-European descent to become a top minister in the French cabinet under the Fifth Republic.
In 2007, legislation was passed that would have permitted the collection of certain kinds of
ethnic data, though the Constitutional Council ruled that the law was unconstitutional. In
anticipation of 2010 regional elections, the government initiated a “debate” on national identity
in the fall of 2009, which quickly evolved into a political discussion of Islam and diversity by
year’s end. In September 2009, authorities evicted hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers
living in makeshift encampments near Calais, detaining many and bulldozing the camps.

Corsica continues to host a sometimes violent separatist movement, and low-level attacks against
property and government targets are frequent, though people are rarely harmed. In 2001, the
government devolved some legislative powers to the island and allowed teaching in the Corsican
language in public schools. In August 2009, the car of Enrico Porsia, an Italian investigative
reporter for the Amnistia news website, was bombed in Corsica, but no injuries were reported.

In early 2009, major protests broke out in Guadeloupe and Martinique, two French overseas
departments equal in status to those in mainland France. A month-long general strike began over
the cost of living but also reflected tensions between the black majority and the ruling whites.
French riot police were sent in and ultimately reached a deal whereby the government agreed to
increase payments to low-wage workers.

Gender equality is protected in France. Constitutional reforms in 2008 institutionalized economic

and social equality, though women still earn approximately 25 percent less than men with similar
qualifications. Some electoral lists require the alternation of candidates by sex. In 2007, women
won 18.5 percent of the seats in the legislature (up from 16.9 percent in 2002). Women have
served as key ministers, as well as prime minister. The rights of homosexuals are protected in
France, and a type of nonmarriage civil union, the PACS, or civil solidarity pact, is recognized.
ce (2002)
Political Rights Score: 1
Polity:
Presidential- Civil Liberties Score: 2
parliamentary Status: Free
democracy

Population: Overview
59,200,000

GNI/Capita: Allegations of corruption continued to taint the French political

$22,897
establishment in 2001. Among several cases of reported impropriety, new
Life Expectancy: evidence emerged implicating President Jacques Chirac in an alleged
79
kickback scandal while he served as Paris mayor. A high court ruled
Religious against a magistrate's request to have President Chirac testify in the case,
Groups: na thereby preventing possible impeachment proceedings. France's right-
Ethnic Groups: wing parties registered significant gains in municipal elections in March.
French, regional More powers were devolved to Corsica, granting greater autonomy to the
minorites
(Corsican, Alsatian, separatist-leaning French island. New security laws came into effect in the
Basque, Breton), wake of the terrorist attacks on September 11, granting police sweeping
various Arab and
African
new search and seizure powers. French-British relations suffered a setback
as increasing numbers of illegal immigrants sought entry into Great
Capital: Paris Britain through the Channel Tunnel. Disabled people earned the right to
sue doctors over having been born.

After World War II, France established a parliamentary Fourth Republic,

which was governed by coalitions and ultimately failed because of the Algerian war. The Fifth
Republic began in 1958 under Prime Minister (and later President) Charles de Gaulle. Election
of the president by popular suffrage began in 1965. In 1992, French citizens narrowly approved
European political and economic union under the Maastricht Treaty. Prime Minister Jospin, of
the Partie Socialiste (Socialist Party), entered a government of "cohabitation" with President
Chirac, a conservative, after winning an upset election in 1997. In October 2000, French voters
went to the polls approving a referendum to cut short the presidential term from seven years to
five, marking the most radical change to the French constitution in 40 years. The shorter term
now puts parliamentary and presidential elections on the same schedule, reducing or potentially
eliminating the awkward cohabitation arrangement, which often features a president and a prime
minister from different parties, often at odds over official policy.

Municipal elections held in March saw significant right-wing inroads in many towns and cities,
while a left-leaning government remained in Paris.

A mounting corruption scandal dogged President Chirac throughout the year, albeit not at the
expense of his popularity. In June, the National Assembly debated a bill that would have stripped
Chirac of his presidential immunity after new evidence arose implicating him in an alleged
kickback scandal. A judicial probe preceded the National Assembly debate examining why
Chirac paid cash for twenty personal foreign trips, made while mayor of Paris in the mid-1980s.
Speculation abounded that the cash was drawn from a substantial slush fund setup to funnel
bribes from public works contracts. While Chirac admitted to paying cash for the trips for him
and his family, he maintained he did so for security reasons. The fund, he explained, was legal,
and not part of a vast bribery system in which illegal commissions were channeled to his RPR
party. Chirac steadfastly refused to testify before a magistrate, citing presidential immunity. In
October, France's highest appeals court ruled the president remained immune from questioning
while in office.
In November, in what was seen as a calculated political counterpoint to Chirac's refusal to face
authorities, Prime Minister Lionel Jospin offered to appear as a witness in a separate illicit
funding case. Evidence emerged that his Socialist Party allegedly received illegal funding from
supermarket chains ten years ago.

France was rocked by other corruption scandals throughout the year, including an illegal arms
trafficking scandal involving Jean-Christophe Mitterand, the son of the late president, Francois
Mitterand. Another involved the formerly state-run Elf oil company, from which government
appointees allegedly siphoned more than $250 million. In May, former foreign minister Roland
Dumas received a six-month jail sentence in the case. He had illegally benefited from a $9
million-a-year job he had arranged for his mistress with the giant oil concern.

In October, Transparency International ranked France 23rd on its corruption index, far behind
most northern European countries. Toward the end of the year, the government moved to abolish
the secret cash funds available to government ministers to use at their discretion.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

French citizens can change their government democratically by directly electing the president
and national assembly. The constitution grants the president significant emergency powers,
including rule by decree under certain circumstances. The president may call referenda and
dissolve parliament, but may not veto its acts or routinely issue decrees. Decentralization has
given mayors significant power over housing, transportation, schools, culture, welfare, and law
enforcement. The judiciary is independent.

Municipal elections held in March were conducted under new parity legislation. Towns with
more than 3,000 people must now present candidate lists with equal numbers of men and
women.

A 1999 law sets maximum limits on detention of suspects during a criminal investigation. Also
included in the bill was the formation of "detention judges" to rule on the justification of
incarceration. Additionally, those being held for interrogation must have immediate access to an
attorney. However, public security laws allow police far-reaching powers to tap telephones, carry
out searches, and jail terror suspects without trial for up to four years.

In October, following the terrorist attacks on the United States, French police arrested nine
people with reported links to the Al-Qaeda terror network on suspicion of plotting terrorist
attacks in France. In November, Parliament adopted new anti-terror legislation. Police are now
able to search cars with the authorization of a prosecutor, a right previously prohibited. Police
can also search private property without warrants. They also have greater access to private
telephone conversations and e-mail. Judges can now demand that phone and Internet companies
save messages for up to one year. teaching of the Corsican language. In December, the French
Parliament approved an autonomy bill, which granted Corsica's regional assembly the right to
amend some national legislation. The bill also permitted using the Corsican language in the
curriculum of all schools. Implementation of the second phase, to take place throughout 2003
and 2004, is dependent on the success of the first phase and the total absence of violence, and
would necessitate reform of the French constitution.

Despite open suspicion toward Muslims and prohibitions against wearing religious garb or
symbols in state schools, religious freedom is protected. In June, Parliament adopted a bill
allowing courts to ban groups considered sects.
Labor rights in France are respected in practice, and strikes are widely and effectively used to
protest government economic policy. The government acted to further entrench the shortened
workweek during the year, originally adopted in October 1999. Women enjoy equal rights in
France.

A dramatic December ruling in France's highest appeals court granted children with Down
syndrome the legal right to have never been born. Doctors are subject to lawsuits if they do not
sufficiently inform mothers of prenatal warning signs, thus denying them the opportunity to have
an abortion.
Constitutional Limits on Government: Country Studies - France

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Rankings in Freedom in the World 2010: 1 Political Rights, 1 Civil Liberties (Free)

Summary

France is Western Europe's largest country by area and the 48th largest in the world, excluding
its overseas territories. It has a population of about 61 million people, ranking 21st in the world.
By economic measurements, France is among the world's most successful countries. With a
nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of $2.231 trillion, it had the world's sixth-largest and
Europe's third-largest economy (after Germany and Britain) in 2006. By purchasing power parity
(PPP), which accounts for local price differences to get a more accurate picture of living
standards, France's GDP ranked seventh in the world in 2006, at $1.942 trillion. Nominal gross
national income (GNI) per capita was 22nd in the world ($36,550), and PPP GNI was 23rd
($32,130).

France is a republic with a mixed presidential-

parliamentary system of government. As with many
countries, it has a history filled with division, intolerance,
absolutism, and empire. But France also has a strong
tradition of republicanism, popular revolution, human
rights, and resistance to Nazi occupation. The seminal
event in its modern history was the Revolution of 1789,
which toppled the absolute monarchy and ushered in the
country's first republican government. Today, France's
democracy is among the world's strongest. Its powerful
presidency is unusual for Europe, where the
parliamentary system is more common, but its
constitutional limits are clearly established. The National
Assembly has decisive powers to approve or censure the
government and pass laws and budgets, and the system is
France further protected by two constitutional courts,
independent news media, and a vibrant intellectual class
that exercises its rights of speech, conscience, and
thought without hindrance.

History
The area that later became France was conquered in the first century BC by the Romans, who
knew it as Gaul. After the collapse of the Roman Empire five centuries later, the territory formed
part of the larger Frankish kingdom established by Clovis I. However, the realm was repeatedly
divided by feuding princes and Viking raids, and it eventually became a patchwork of estates
ruled by powerful noblemen. France emerged as a distinct political unit only in the late 10th
century, when kings based in the Paris area began to assert royal authority over the surrounding
lands. Over the subsequent centuries, the French kings also had to contend with the rulers of
England, who claimed sovereignty over large parts of the country. But by the reign of Francis I
(1515–47) of the Valois dynasty, the royal government had extended its control almost to the
borders of modern France.

Wars of Religion

The rise of Protestantism among the French nobility and

townsmen, combined with opposition to growing royal
authority in many parts of the country, helped to plunge
France into a series of bloody civil conflicts beginning in
1562. During this time, the minority who converted to
Protestantism (known as Huguenots) were subject to
repression and massacres. Henry IV, the first king of the
Bourbon dynasty, was himself a Protestant. He defended
his succession to the throne, winning military victories
over his Catholic enemies, but converted to Catholicism
to gain the acceptance of his overwhelmingly Catholic
subjects. To prevent further unrest, he issued the Edict of
Nantes in 1598, providing Protestants with freedom of
Painting of "Combat Quiberon 1795" by worship and civil equality (see also "Freedom of
Jean Sorieul, illustrating a Battle during Religion").
the French Revolution
Renunciation of the Edict of Nantes

Henry's son and successor, Louis XIII (1610–43), together with his chief minister, Cardinal
Richelieu, undermined the Edict of Nantes through restrictive interpretation and brutally
suppressed the Huguenot rebellion of 1625–29. France nevertheless intervened on the Protestant
side during the last part of the Thirty Years War (1618–48) due to its rivalry with Spain and
Austria. In doing so, it gained a number of neighboring German territories. France agreed to the
Peace of Westphalia in 1648, which confirmed the right of states to determine their own religion
and the more general principle of state sovereignty. For France's next king, Louis XIV (1643–
1715), this meant further repression of Protestant worship and the full revocation of the Edict of
Nantes in 1685. Many Protestants, if they did not convert to Catholicism, left the country. France
today remains predominantly Catholic.

The Absolutist State

Louis XIV is also known for centralizing the state and economy through his principal financial
minister, Jean Baptiste Colbert. Appointed in 1665, Colbert introduced a more efficient system
of public accounts and debt management, and offered state support to invigorate maritime trade
and domestic industries. Through his combination of state direction of the economy and
promotion of trade, Colbert is considered a father of mercantilism, which emphasized the
national accumulation of gold and silver through increased exports and internal self-sufficiency
(see "Economic Freedom).
Over the course of the 18th century, attempts at reform were hampered or undone by costly
foreign wars and lingering feudal institutions. The government was plagued by fiscal crises even
when the wider economy was performing well, and extensive aristocratic privileges frustrated
both royal officials and society at large. At the same time, the philosophical Enlightenment of the
era spread new ideas among French intellectuals, including Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who
promoted ideas of popular sovereignty and equality. Most important, Enlightenment thinkers
drew attention to the irrationality and cruelty of the existing French system.

The Revolution

In 1789, financial difficulties forced King Louis XVI to call a gathering of representatives of the
nobility, the clergy, and the commoners, known collectively as the Estates-General. In June, the
"third estate" rejected the authority of nobles and clerics, declared itself a National Assembly,
and sought to impose a constitution on the king. After the monarch began to resist this action, the
citizens of Paris revolted on July 14 and stormed the Bastille, a major prison and armory. Their
uprising quickly took the form of a national revolution. The National Assembly adopted the
Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen, which went further even than the American
Declaration of Independence or Constitution in asserting citizens' democratic rights. Despite the
document's republican rhetoric and the people's repudiation of royalty, most delegates of the
Assembly still hoped to maintain a constitutional monarchy.

However, the Revolution grew more radical after Louis attempted to flee the country and a
devastating war began with Austria and other royalist
European powers. In 1792, the monarchy was
abolished by a new National Convention, elected by The constitution establishes the
universal male suffrage. The king was beheaded the rights and freedoms of the citizenry and
following year, and the most extreme factions, led by proclaims the people’s "attachment" to
the Jacobins, established a dictatorship ruled by a group the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of
of revolutionary committees. The period from 1793 to
1794, under the leadership of Maximilien Robespierre, Man and the Citizen.
is known as the Reign of Terror. Citing the ideas of
Rousseau and other Enlightenment thinkers,
Robespierre and his allies insisted that their actions
were necessary to save the Revolution from its internal and foreign enemies. Thousands of
people—the royal family, nobles, bourgeoisie, intellectuals, peasants, and workers—were
arrested, sentenced to death by obedient courts, and executed by guillotine. Foreshadowing
similar actions by 20th-century totalitarian regimes, the radical government adopted a new
revolutionary calendar, with the first year set to mark the founding of the republic.

The Thermidorian Reaction and the Rise of Napoleon

The National Convention finally deposed Robespierre and turned against the extremes of the
Terror in what became known as the Thermidorian reaction, named for the month in the
revolutionary calendar in which it occurred. A new constitution was adopted, creating a
bicameral legislature and a five-member executive Directory. However, the ideologically
moderate regime was buffeted by opponents on the left and right, and it was dependent on the
support of the increasingly powerful military. Napoleon Bonaparte, an army general, took power
in a coup in 1799, becoming "first consul" of the republic. He proclaimed himself emperor in
1804 and engaged in years of warfare with the European monarchies before his final defeat at the
battle of Waterloo in 1815. Napoleon's legacy was long-lasting. He transformed France by
introducing a uniform legal code and system of bureaucracy, and spread the core ideas of the
Revolution across Europe through his military conquests.
 While monarchist elements
continued to play an influential role in
national affairs for many years, the
A Tumultuous 19th Century and the Founding of the economic, social, and political
Third Republic transformation wrought by the
Revolution and its aftermath grew
The Bourbon dynasty was restored in 1815, although
this time with a constitution and elected legislature. increasingly entrenched.
When the king attempted to reassert elements of
absolutism, a revolt led by the upper middle class
placed Louis Philippe, the duc d'Orleans, on the throne
in 1830. The electorate remained limited under the new monarchy, and disenfranchised groups
rose up in 1848 to establish the Second Republic. Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, the former
emperor's nephew, won election as president of the new republic later that year. He staged a
coup as his single term in office drew to a close, and in 1852 a plebiscite confirmed him as
Emperor Napoleon III. In the course of France's crushing defeat in the Franco-Prussian War
(1870–71), the emperor was deposed and a Third Republic was proclaimed. A leftist Paris
Commune—in the tradition of the radical Paris Commune that arose following the 1789
Revolution—was organized to oppose both the Prussians and the relatively conservative new
regime, but it was defeated by government forces in 1871. The Third Republic went on to
become the longest-lasting constitutional system in France's history. While monarchist elements
continued to play an influential role in national affairs for many years, the economic, social, and
political transformation wrought by the Revolution and its aftermath grew increasingly
entrenched.

Vichy: A Shameful Era

The Third Republic survived World War I (1914–18) but quickly collapsed in the face of a Nazi
German invasion in 1940. Marshal Henri Philippe Petain, the republic's last prime minister,
agreed to an armistice that allowed German forces to occupy and administer much of the
country, including Paris. Meanwhile, the constitution was suspended and Petain became the
leader of a Fascist puppet regime based in Vichy, in central France. In 1942, the Germans
occupied the whole country. But for the rest of World War II, the Vichy government cooperated
fully with the Germans, hunting down and executing resistance fighters, contributing French
labor and resources to the German war effort, and helping to round up tens of thousands of Jews
for deportation and mass murder.

During the war, many French took part in the resistance movement against German occupation,
engaging in spying, sabotage, and guerrilla fighting. General Charles de Gaulle escaped to
London and helped establish a Free French army and government in exile. But large numbers of
businessmen, civil service workers, and police collaborated with the occupiers. The Vichy
regime came to an end after the successful Allied invasion of France in June 1944. A provisional
government headed by de Gaulle gave way in 1946 to the Fourth Republic, which was similar in
constitutional structure to the Third. The Communist Party, which had been active in the wartime
resistance, gained prominence immediately after the war, raising fears that France would align
itself with the Soviet Union. However, American aid through the Marshall Plan and France's
other political parties helped to rebuild the country on a democratic footing. France later
emerged as one of Europe's strongest economies and a leading force in the creation of the
European Union (EU).

French Colonialism

France had been an active participant in the European race to build colonial empires around the
world. Although it lost its North American possessions at the end of the French and Indian War
(also known as the Seven Years War) in 1763, it retained a number of Caribbean islands and
French Guiana. Napoleon I briefly regained a section of North America from Spain, but sold it to
the United States in the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. Over the course of the 19th century, France
extended its control over parts of Southeast Asia, North and West Africa, and islands in the
Indian and Pacific Oceans. It also joined Great Britain in dividing the Middle East after World
War I, taking responsibility for Syria and Lebanon in a last bid at imperial expansion. However,
in the decades following World War II, all European countries came under pressure to dismantle
their colonial empires and leave independent states in their place. Under the Fourth Republic,
France's overseas empire was reorganized as the French Union, which ostensibly granted more
equity and autonomy to the colonies. Nevertheless, Vietnamese forces compelled the French to
withdraw from Southeast Asia in 1954, and many other countries gained independence over the
next decade.

The most consequential anticolonial struggle for France was that of Algeria, where many French
colonists had settled since the first French invasion in 1830. Years of brutal violence and
political turmoil—in which the French government contended with both Algerian nationalists
and, toward the end, militant colonists and army factions—finally resulted in independence in
1962, but only after a constitutional overhaul in France itself. Meanwhile, a number of former
colonies, mainly small island territories, have remained part of France as overseas departements
(French administrative regions), and the country retains close relations with most of its former
empire in a community not unlike the British Commonwealth.

Constitutional Limits

The Fourth Republic, established immediately after World War II, had restored many of the
Third Republic's characteristics, including a constitutionally strong but politically divided
Parliament and a relatively weak executive. As the Algerian crisis came to a head and right-wing
elements threatened to rebel, Charles de Gaulle was recalled from retirement in 1958 and set
about establishing a Fifth Republic that included his vision of a strong presidency. The new
constitution was approved by public referendum in September 1958 and amended in 1962.

The Fifth Republic: A Semi-Presidential System

Today, France is a republic with a mixed presidential-parliamentary system of government, also

known as a semi-presidential system. The president, the head of state, is elected directly to a
five-year term (until 2002 it was seven years), with the possibility of reelection. He or she
appoints the prime minister and cabinet, sets overall government policy, and plays an especially
prominent role in national security and foreign policy, with formal command of the armed forces
and responsibility for concluding treaties. The president can dissolve Parliament before the end
of its term and may rule by decree in emergency situations. The prime minister and other
ministers handle the implementation of government policy, making more detailed, day-to-day
decisions.

The Parliament's Role

Parliament, which is bicameral, meets for a nine-month session each year, although the president
may call an emergency session in the three-month interim period. The lower house, the National
Assembly, has 577 deputies directly elected to five-year terms and is the principal legislative
body. All seats are open in a general election. In addition to approving budgets and laws, it has
the power to bring down a prime minister and cabinet through a vote of censure. Therefore, the
government must retain the approval of a majority of the Assembly.
Members of the upper house, the Senate, are chosen by an electoral college made up of the
elected officials from their respective departments or territories. Twelve senators represent
French nationals living abroad. Senators (who numbered 331 as of 2007) serve for six years,
with one-half of the seats up for election every three years. The Senate can offer amendments to
bills and initiate some forms of legislation, but the more powerful National Assembly can
overrule it in any disagreement.

Since Parliament and the president are elected separately, they sometimes represent different
parties, as in the United States. However, in France such cases of divided government are called
cohabitation, since the president must work—within the executive branch—with a prime
minister and cabinet members from a rival party. Since 1980, there have been periods of
cohabitation pairing a Socialist president (Francois Mitterrand) with a majority conservative
National Assembly, and a conservative president (Jacques Chirac) with a Socialist majority in
the Assembly. More often, the president has a unified government, with a cabinet and legislative
majority from his own party.

The Foundation of the Constitution

The constitution establishes the rights and freedoms of the citizenry and proclaims the people's
"attachment" to the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen. Institutional
safeguards include the Constitutional Council, which examines the constitutionality of legislation
referred to it by Parliament, the prime minister, or the president before it is signed into law; and
the Council of State, which hears constitutional questions or claims against the government
brought by individual citizens. The constitution is less clear on the status of immigrants, an issue
that has gained prominence in recent years. Roughly 10 percent of the population is foreign-
born, and many others were born in France to immigrant parents. A series of urban riots in 2005
highlighted the problem of their rights, social status, and economic conditions.

The strength of the constitution and the country's vigorous intellectual tradition are among the
most important checks on governmental power in France. They foster and protect an independent
media and a culture of commentary and criticism in which individuals fully exercise their rights
of free inquiry, expression, thought, and conscience. France's media outlets often have political
orientations but operate independently of any political party. Several of today's newspapers and
magazines have their roots in the period of resistance to Nazi rule, during which independent
journalists put out daily and weekly papers at great risk to their lives and liberty.

Alliances

France was a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community (1952), which
eventually grew into the European Union, and of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or
NATO (1949). These institutions established strong treaty obligations, including commitments to
uphold peace, human rights, and democracy. France withdrew from NATO's military command
structure in 1966, but agreed to rejoin the alliance's Military Committee in 1995; it has since
participated in joint NATO actions in the Balkans and Afghanistan. France has played a leading
role in the European Union, especially in supporting steps toward greater economic, monetary,
and political integration. In recent times, however, French presidents have resisted EU
requirements to adopt specific budget changes and efforts to alter farm subsidies that benefit
French agriculture. In 2005, French referendum voters rejected a proposed EU constitution due
to perceived encroachments on sovereignty and other concerns. The vote was also seen as an
expression of dissatisfaction with the French government, which supported the constitution plan.

Conclusion
France, although it has adopted a system with a strong presidency, has constitutional limits
including the legislature's powers to bring down a government; two judicial oversight bodies, the
Constitutional Council and Council of State; substantial constitutional protections for civil and
human rights; and treaty obligations under the EU and NATO. France also possesses vibrant
independent media and an outspoken intellectual class.

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