French Fifth Republic

Origins

Instability of the Fourth Republic

Main article: French Fourth Republic

The Fourth Republic had suffered from a lack of political consensus, a weak executive, and governments forming and falling in quick succession since 1946. With no party or coalition able to sustain a parliamentary majority, prime ministers found themselves unable to risk their political position with unpopular reforms.

May 1958 crisis

Main article: May 1958 crisis in France

The trigger for the collapse of the French Fourth Republic was the Algiers crisis of 1958. France was still a colonial power, although conflict and revolt had begun the process of decolonization. French West Africa, French Indochina, and French Algeria still sent representatives to the French parliament under systems of limited suffrage in the French Union. Algeria in particular, despite being the colony with the largest French population, saw rising pressure for separation from Metropolitan France. The situation was complicated by those in Algeria, such as European settlers, native Jews, and Harkis (native Muslims who were loyal to France), who wanted to maintain the union with France. The Algerian War was not just a separatist movement but had elements of a civil war.

Further complications came when a section of the French Army rebelled and openly backed the Algérie française movement to defeat separation. Charles de Gaulle, who had retired from politics a decade before, placed himself in the midst of the crisis, calling on the nation to suspend the government and create a new constitutional system. The parliament was unable to choose a government amid popular protest, and De Gaulle was carried to power when the last parliament of the Fourth Republic voted for its own dissolution and the convening of a constitutional convention.

Transitional period

De Gaulle and his supporters proposed a system of strong presidents elected for seven-year terms. The president, under the proposed constitution, would have executive powers to run the country in consultation with a prime minister whom he would appoint. On 1 June 1958, Charles de Gaulle was appointed head of the government; on 3 June 1958, a constitutional law empowered the new government to draft a new constitution of France, and another law granted Charles de Gaulle and his cabinet the power to rule by decree for up to six months, except on matters of criminal law, electoral law, matters related to the basic rights and freedoms of citizens, and the activities of trade unions. These plans were approved by more than 80% of those who voted in the referendum of 28 September 1958. The new constitution was signed into law on 4 October 1958. Since each new constitution established a new republic, France moved from the Fourth to the Fifth Republic.

1958 constitution

Main article: Constitution of France

The new constitution contained transitional clauses (articles 90–92) extending the period of rule by decree until the new institutions were operating. René Coty remained president of the Republic until the new president was proclaimed. On 21 December 1958, Charles de Gaulle was elected president of France by an electoral college. The provisional constitutional commission, acting in lieu of the constitutional council, proclaimed the results of the election on 9 January 1959. The new president began his office on that date, appointing Michel Debré as prime minister.

The 1958 constitution also replaced the French Union with the French Community, which allowed fourteen member territories (excluding Algeria) to assert their independence. 1960 became known as the "Year of Africa" because of this wave of newly independent states. Algeria became independent on 5 July 1962.

Evolution

Election of the president

The president was initially elected by an electoral college but in 1962 de Gaulle proposed that the president be directly elected by the citizens and held a referendum on the change. Although the method and intent of de Gaulle in that referendum were contested by most political groups except for the Gaullists, the change was approved by the French electorate. The Constitutional Council declined to rule on the constitutionality of the referendum.

The president is now elected every five years, changed from seven by a constitutional referendum in 2000, to reduce the probability of cohabitation due to former differences in the length of terms for the National Assembly and presidency. The president is elected in one or two rounds of voting: if one candidate gets a majority of votes in the first round that person is president-elect; if no one gets a majority in the first round, the two candidates with the greatest number of votes go to a second round.

Separation of powers

Two major changes occurred in the 1970s regarding constitutional checks and balances. Traditionally, France operated according to parliamentary supremacy: no authority was empowered to rule on whether statutes passed by Parliament respected the constitutional rights of the citizens. In 1971, however, the Constitutional Council, arguing that the preamble of the constitution referenced the rights defined in the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and the preamble of the 1946 constitution, concluded that statutes must respect these rights and so declared partially unconstitutional a statute because it violated freedom of association.

Only the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, or the president of either house of Parliament could ask for a constitutional review a statute was signed into law—which greatly reduces the likelihood of such a review if all these officeholders happened to be from the same side of politics, which was the case at the time. Then in 1974, a constitutional amendment widened this prerogative to 60 members of the National Assembly or 60 members of the senate. From that date, the opposition has been able to have controversial new statutes examined for constitutionality.

Presidents of the Fifth Republic

Main article: List of presidents of France#French Fifth Republic (1958–present)

Source:

President image gallery

File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F010324-0002, Flughafen Köln-Bonn, Adenauer, de Gaulle-cropped.jpg|Charles de Gaulle (1890–1970) Served 1959–1969 File:23.04.1969. A Poher. (1969) - 53Fi3443 (cropped).jpg|Alain Poher (1909–1996) Served 1969, 1974 (as interim) File:Georges Pompidou (cropped 2).jpg|Georges Pompidou (1911–1974) Served 1969–1974 File:Valéry Giscard d’Estaing 1978(2).jpg|Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (1926–2020) Served 1974–1981 File:President Mitterand bij slotzitting Europa Congres Mitterand, kop, Bestanddeelnr 934-2444 (portrait crop).jpg|François Mitterrand (1916–1996) Served 1981–1995 File:Jacques Chirac, 1999.jpg|Jacques Chirac (1932–2019) Served 1995–2007 File:Nicolas Sarkozy in 2010.jpg|Nicolas Sarkozy (b. 1955) Served 2007–2012 File:Francois Hollande 2015.jpeg|François Hollande (b. 1954) Served 2012–2017 File:Emmanuel Macron (cropped).jpg|Emmanuel Macron (b. 1977) Incumbent since May 2017

Prime Ministers of the Fifth Republic

Main article: List of Prime Ministers of France#Fifth French Republic (1958–present)

Source:

Institutions of the Fifth Republic

Timeline diagram

Notes

References

References

1. Lessig, Lawrence. (1993). "The Path of the Presidency". East European Constitutional Review.
2. Richburg, Keith B.. (25 September 2000). "French President's Term Cut to Five Years". The Washington Post.
3. Kubicek, Paul. (2015). "European Politics". Routledge.
4. Philip M. Williams, ''Crisis and Compromise: Politics in the Fourth Republic'' (1958)
5. John E. Talbott, ''The War Without a Name: France in Algeria, 1954–1962'' (1980).
6. Jonathan Fenby, ''The General: Charles de Gaulle and the France He Saved'' (2010) pp 375–408.
7. "Fac-similé JO du 02/06/1958, page 05279 – Legifrance".
8. {{cite French law
9. [http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jopdf/common/jo_pdf.jsp?numJO=0&dateJO=19581005&numTexte=&pageDebut=09177&pageFin= Proclamation] des résultats des votes émis par le peuple français à l'occasion de sa consultation par voie de référendum, le 28 septembre 1958
10. (5 October 1958). "Constitution". [[Journal Officiel de la République Française]].
11. "Fac-similé JO du 09/01/1959, page 00673 – Legifrance".
12. (July 2008). "Possibility and Constraint: African Independence in Historical Perspective". Journal of African History.
13. Abayomi Azikiwe, "[http://panafricannews.blogspot.com/2010/04/50th-anniversary-of-of-africa-1960.html 50th Anniversary of the 'Year of Africa' 1960]", ''Pan-African News Wire'', 21 April 2010.
14. Constitutional Council, [http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/conseil-constitutionnel/francais/les-decisions/depuis-1958/decisions-par-date/1962/resultats-referendum-octobre-1962/decision-resultats-referendum-octobre-1962-du-06-novembre-1962.6422.html Proclamation] {{Webarchive. link. (21 February 2012 of the results of the 28 October 1962 referendum on the bill related to the election of the President of the Republic by universal suffrage)
15. Constitutional Council, [http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/conseil-constitutionnel/francais/les-decisions/depuis-1958/decisions-par-date/1962/62-20-dc/decision-n-62-20-dc-du-06-novembre-1962.6398.html Decision 62-20 DC] {{Webarchive. link. (10 May 2013 of 6 November 1962)
16. Morton, F. L.. (Winter 1988). "Judicial Review in France: A Comparative Analysis". American Journal of Comparative Law.
17. (Spring 1958). "The Rule of Law as Understood in France". The American Journal of Comparative Law.
18. Constitutional Council, [http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/conseil-constitutionnel/francais/les-decisions/depuis-1958/decisions-par-date/1971/71-44-dc/decision-n-71-44-dc-du-16-juillet-1971.7217.html Decision 71-44 DC] {{Webarchive. link. (10 May 2013 of 16 July 1971)
19. {{cite French law
20. [[:fr:Alain Lancelot. Alain Lancelot]], ''[http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/conseil-constitutionnel/root/bank_mm/pdf/Conseil/reforme_1974.pdf La réforme de 1974, avancée libéral ou progrès de la démocratie ?]''