8/12 France has a semi-presidential republic system of government with a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of government. The president appoints the prime minister and other government ministers. The bicameral parliament consists of the lower National Assembly and upper Senate. Bills must pass both houses to become law. France is also part of the European Union and elects representatives to its parliament.

1. Post author By Charlie September 3, 2020
The Government System of France
theweeklyrambler.com/the-government-system-of-france/
France is a country located in Western
Europe and is bordered with the
countries of Belgium, Luxembourg,
Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco,
Andorra and Spain and has coasts
along the English Channel, Celtic Sea
and Bay of Biscay on one side and the
Mediterranean Sea on the other side,
where a large island called Corsica can
be found which is part of France and
its largest island. The country’s capital
is Paris and is located in north-central
France. Being that France was once a
large empire it has a number of
remaining overseas territories, many
of which are small islands.
Back in the Iron Age the area that is
France was inhabited by a collection of Celtic tribes known as the Gauls and in 51 BC
the area was annexed by the Romans and it became Roman Gaul and developed a
Gallo-Roman culture. Germanic Franks arrived in the area in 476 and the Kingdom of
Francia was formed and eventually became the Carolingian Empire. The Empire was
partitioned into three areas in 843 by the Treaty of Verdun as a result of the Carolingian
civil war and the resulting Kingdom of West Francia would become the Kingdom of
France in 987.
Much of the High Middle Ages saw France as a highly decentralized feudal Kingdom
where the monarch’s power was of little influence. King Phillip Augustus styled himself
as the first king of France, before that the monarchs had called themselves King of the
Franks, Augustus strengthened the power of the monarchy and greatly expanded
France’s borders through the defeat of rivals, France after this period emerged as one of
Europe’s most powerful states. The mid-14th Century saw many conflicts in the
Hundred Years’ War between French and English monarchs over the right to rule
France of which the French were eventually successful. The Kingdom was not as
successful in wars with Italy, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire that followed.
From the 16th Century onwards, the French would establish a Colonial Empire that
would grow on to be the 2nd largest in the world (behind the British Empire) and one of
the most powerful Empires of all time. Also, during the 16th Century religious wars
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2. between Catholics and Protestants weakened France. France would recover in the 17th
Century under Louis XIV after the Thirty Years’ War where it once again becomes a
dominant cultural, military and political power in Europe.
Soon though France would begin facing problems from its own people through political
and social upheaval that resulted from numerous factors such as the realms debt,
flawed financial model and taxation system and many costly wars including the Seven
Years’ War and the American War of Independence. The resulting French Revolution in
1789 led to the fall of absolute monarchy in France and the establishment of the French
Republic.
In the 19th Century Napoleon Bonaparte would lead a number of wars to establish
French hegemony across much of Europe leading to the establishment of the First
French Empire and the fall of the First Republic after Napoleon became Emperor of
France, this all lead to numerous coalitions of states being formed by the British and
other regional powers against the French, all of which is part of the Napoleonic Wars
where Napoleon made staggering gains not only in Europe but in other parts of the
world as well, such as the Middle East. It took seven coalitions to fully defeat Napoleon
ending with the decisive Battle of Waterloo, after which led to the fall of the First French
Empire. The Bourbon Restoration followed where absolute monarchy existed for a time
before another revolution led to the creation of a short-lived Second Republic which
ended after Napoleon III took power and established the Second French Empire.
The Franco-Prussian War led to the collapse of that Empire and then the establishment
of the Third Republic which existed through World War I where France was victorious
but collapsed during World War II when the country was invaded and occupied by Nazi
Germany, although they allowed a part of France to govern itself as Vichy France where
they also collaborated with the Nazis. The Allies through the D-Day landings ended the
Nazi occupation and Vichy regime and after the war the Fourth Republic was
established.
The Fourth Republic proved to be unstable and events of decolonization of the
remnants of the colonial Empire and the crisis and wars related to it such as the
Algerian War of Independence led to the collapse of the Fourth Republic in 1958 and
the establishment of the Fifth Republic that exists to this day, through the 1960s many
of the French colonial territories became independent.
I hope the above is good enough to get a very basic idea of France’s history, it is far more
extensive than most other countries but that is what I expected as it has a long and
complex history. The country’s official language is French, the largest religion is Roman
Catholic with an extensive atheist minority. The country’s currency is the Euro. The
country’s population is around about 67 million.
Government Type
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3. National Emblem of France. Jérôme
BLUM. CC BY-SA 2.0 FR.Source.
France is a semi-presidential republic with a representative parliamentary system, there
is a President who is Head of State and a Prime Minister who is Head of Government
and there is a bicameral parliament that makes up the legislative government. Multiple
Parties are allowed and must respect national
sovereignty and democracy.
France is also a part of the European Union
and so they elect a number of seats to the
European Parliament.
The French President is also one of the Co-
Princes of Andorra technically making him a
monarch although it is widely ceremonial, you
can read more about this on my post on
Andorra’s system of government here.
The Executive Government
The Élysée Palace, residence of the President of France. Photo by vostok 91 from Wikimedia.
CC BY-SA 2.0. Source.
The President of France is the country’s Head of State and although the system is a
semi-presidential republic with a Prime Minister, the President has reasonable powers
and great influence at their disposal compared to many other Presidents of Europe who
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4. have much less power and influence under such systems. The President in France also
does not have to be independent and is often part of a major political party, something
which is also often not seen in such systems in Europe.
It is always the duty of the President to enforce and protect the constitution and enforce
the rights of the population and to guarantee the independence, national sovereignty
and territorial integrity of the country.
Presidential Absence
If the Presidency is vacant for any reason or if the constitutional council has ruled by
absolute majority that the President is incapacitated then the duties of President are
taken up by the President of the Senate (upper chamber of parliament) and if that
person cannot then the duties are taken up by the Government, powers are more limited
though such as not being able to organise referendums on important Government Bills
and not being able to dissolve parliament.
If the vacancy is permanent or if the incapacity is declared as permanent by the
constitutional council then new presidential elections are organised.
Presidential Duties and Powers
The President appoints the Prime Minister often from the largest political party or
coalition who appears to have the most confidence of the lower chamber of parliament
(National Assembly) members. The President also terminates the Prime Minister such
as if they resign or if they lose a vote of confidence from the National Assembly.
The President appoints and removes members of government on advice of the Prime
Minister. The President presides over the Council of Ministers and will sign the
Ordinances and Decrees that have been deliberated on by them. The President as
Commander-in-Chief of the country’s armed forces and as such presides over higher
national defense councils and committees and makes appointments to civil and military
posts of the state. Many appointments of posts and officials are done through the
Council of Ministers. The President on a number of appointments may need to consult
with the relevant Standing Committee of each House of Parliament, of which can
prevent appointments if the sum of the negative votes is at least three fifths of votes
from both committees (upper and lower house of parliament).
The President accredits ambassadors and envoys to foreign powers and foreign
ambassadors and envoys are accredited to the President.
The President negotiates and ratifies treaties, many such treaties may require the
consent of Parliament to come into effect. Treaties that include changing of territory
require consent in a national referendum.
The President promulgates Acts passed by the parliament into law within fifteen days of
it being passed and transmitted to the Government but the President can choose to send
the act/bill back for a 2nd opinion if the President disagrees or sees constitutional fault
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5. with certain parts or all of the bill/act.
The President can organise a national referendum on important government bills that
deals with organisation of public authorities, reforms relating to the economic or social
policy of the Nation, public services contributing thereto or providing for authorization
to ratify a treaty which may effect the functioning of the institutions. This referendum is
proposed to the President either by the Government or a joint parliamentary motion
from both parliamentary chambers.
For parliament the initiative for a referendum requires the support of one-fifth of
parliament members supported by one-tenth of registered voters and will then be
introduced as a Private Member’s Bill, an Institutional Act sets out a period for the two
parliament chambers to consider the Bill, if this period elapses without consideration by
the two parliamentary chambers, then the Bill will be submitted to a national
referendum by the President.
After consultation with the Prime Ministers and the Presidents of the Houses of
Parliament the President can dissolve the National Assembly and fresh elections will be
organised. The National Assembly cannot be dissolved within a year of its election.
The President has the right to grant individual pardons.
If required under extraordinary circumstances the President has the power, after
consultation with the Prime Minister, Presidents of the Houses of Parliament and with
the Constitutional Council to declare Emergency Powers and Provisions which will
allow the authorities to as swiftly as possible carry out their duties and resolve the grave
situation. The Parliament sits as of right during this time and cannot be dissolved, the
parliament will provide oversight during the time emergency provisions and powers are
active.
After 30 days of emergency provisions/powers either the President of the National
Assembly, President of the Senate or at least sixty National Assembly members or at
least sixty Senate members can refer the matter to the Constitutional Council of
whether such measures are still required. The Constitutional Council will notify publicly
its decision. The Council can also launch an examination of emergency powers after 60-
days or thereafter without having to be prompted.
If a State of Siege is decreed by the Council of Ministers it will last for 12-days where
then the parliament must give its permission to extend.
Some of the President’s powers require a counter-signature by the Prime Minister or a
Minister concerned for it to have effect. Such powers not requiring a counter-signature
include appointment of Prime Minister, organisation of referendums on important
Bills, dissolving the National Assembly, emergency powers/provisions, members
appointed by the President to the Constitutional Council and the President referring
bills to the Constitutional Council.
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6. Constitutional Council and Judiciary
The Constitutional Council is comprised of nine members each of which have a 9-year
non-renewable term, one-third of the membership is renewed every 3-years. Three
members are appointed by the President, three by the President of the National
Assembly, and the final three by the President of the Senate.
The President of the Constitutional Council (one of the members appointed by the
President of the Republic) has a casting vote if there is a tie.
Ex-Presidents of France are ex-officio members of the Constitutional Council in
addition to the 9-members.
The President guarantees judicial independence and is assisted by the High Council of
the Judiciary, which has two sections, one for jurisdiction over judges and one for
jurisdiction over public prosecutors, the President for the section with jurisdiction over
judges will be the Chief President of the Court of Cassation, in addition its members
include five judges, one public prosecutor, one councillor of state appointed by the
Council of State, and one practicing lawyer, in addition to that six qualified and
prominent citizens are also appointed who are not members of Parliament, the
Judiciary or of the administration, two appointed by the President of the Republic, two
by the President of the Senate and two by the President of the National Assembly.
The Section with jurisdiction over Public Prosecutors is presided over by the Chief
Public Prosecutor of the Court of Cassation and its members include five public
prosecutors, a judge, councillor of state, practicing lawyer and six qualified prominent
citizens appointed in the same way.
Presidential Removal
The President can only be removed from office due to breach of duties which are
patently incompatible with him continuing in office. Such a decision is made to remove
the President on these grounds by Parliament convening as a High Court. Both Houses
must agree by a vote of two-thirds to convening as a High Court and if so the President
of the National Assembly will preside over it.
The High Court will vote by secret ballot to remove the President from office within one
month, removal requires a two-thirds majority.
Prime Minister and Government
The Government which is headed by the Prime Minister is tasked with conducting the
Nations governing policy. The Prime Minister and Government must maintain the
confidence of the National Assembly to remain in power.
The Prime Ministers directs the actions of the Government and is responsible for the
national defense. The Prime Minister has the duty of ensuring that legislation passed
and promulgated is implemented. The Prime Minister has the power through the
Council of Ministers to make regulations and appointments to civil and military posts.
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7. The Prime Minister gives advice to the President on appointment of Government
members and Ministers and their termination. The Prime Minister can delegate certain
of his powers to another Minister.
If needed the Prime Minister can deputize for the President in presiding over the higher
councils of defense and committees. In exceptional cases the Prime Minister can also
deputize for the President as chairman of a meeting of the Council of Ministers by virtue
of express delegation of powers for a specific agenda.
Some instruments of the Prime Minister require counter-signature by a Minister
concerned for the implementation of such to have effect.
Members of Government cannot also hold parliamentary office, any position of
professional representation at national level, or any public employment or professional
activity.
Ministers of Government usually run a ministry which focuses on a specific purpose for
the running of the nation’s institutions and policy and regulation implementation
related.
There is a Council of State apart of the Government which is to advise government on
law and legal matters and also acts as the supreme court for administrative justice, its
members are high-ranking legal advisors.
The Legislative Government
Palais Bourbon, meeting place of the National Assembly (lower house of parliament). Photo in
Public Domain.
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8. The parliament is bicameral and is made up of the National Assembly which is the lower
house and the house that determines the confidence in Government and Prime Minister
and then there is the Senate which is the upper house of parliament. It is the job of
parliament to have legislation introduced to it and to debate on, amend, reject or pass
such legislation. It is also the job of parliament to give oversight to the executive
government.
In brief statutes or legislation determine rules around civic rights, fundamental
guarantees of citizens for exercise of civil liberties; freedom and independence of
media; obligations imposed for the purposes of national defense on citizens and
property; nationality; determination of serious crime and other offenses and penalties
they carry; criminal procedure; amnesty; setting up of new categories of courts and
status of members of the judiciary; base, rates and methods of taxation; issuing of
currency; rules around elections; setting up of categories of public legal entities;
nationalization of companies and transfer of ownership of companies from private to
public sector; general organisation of national defense; self-government of territorial
communities and their powers and revenues; preservation of the environment; systems
of ownership, property rights; Employment law and trade union law etc.
Both the Prime Minister and members of parliament themselves are able to introduce
legislation. Government Bills are discussed in the Council of Ministers after
consultation from the Council of State and are then tabled in one of the two houses of
parliament.
Bills introduced to parliament are reviewed by a legislative committee in the relevant
House.
Both Houses have a Conference of Presidents that decide on agenda and seeing that
rules and Institutional Acts are followed, for example they may decide that introducing
a Government Bill on to the agenda isn’t applicable with the Institutional Act and so
reject it. If a disagreement on this comes about between the Government and relevant
Conference of Presidents then either the Prime Minister or President of the relevant
House will refer the matter to the Constitutional Council for decision.
Private Member’s Bills and amendments cannot result in either a diminution of public
revenue or the creation or increase of any public expenditure.
Both Houses must agree on a common text of a bill and both pass the Bill for it to go to
the President of the Republic to be signed into law. If both Houses come to a
disagreement and it becomes impossible to pass either a Government or Private
Member’s Bill after two readings by each House, or if the Government has decided to
apply the accelerated procedure without opposition jointly from both Conferences of
Presidents, after a single reading of the Bill by both Houses, then the Prime Minister (if
it is a Government Bill) or the two Presidents of the Houses acting jointly (if the bill is
private), may convene a joint-committee which will be composed of an equal number of
members from each House, to propose a text on the provisions still under debate.
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9. The text then agreed upon by the Joint-Committee can be introduced by the
Government to the Parliament of which cannot be amended without consent of the
Government. If on the other hand the Joint-Committee fails to agree on a common text,
or if the text is still rejected by Parliament, the Government may then, after further
reading by both Houses, ask the National Assembly to make a final decision. The
National Assembly can either choose the Bill agreed on by the Joint-Committee or the
last text passed by itself, if the bill is considered an Institutional Act then it requires an
absolute majority in this instance.
Since Institutional Acts are organic legislation, they require review by the Constitutional
Council before they are promulgated into law.
The National Assembly
The National Assembly can have no more than 577 members of which currently it has
that number of members. The National Assembly represents French nationals including
those living abroad. Although the National Assembly is the lower house it is considered
the primary house due to its influence over Government and the dependence of
Government on it to remain in power.
An extraordinary session can be called at the request of the Prime Minister or of at least
a majority of the members of the National Assembly, to debate a specific agenda. These
extraordinary sessions are opened and closed by Decree of the President of the
Republic.
The President of the National Assembly is elected by its members after elections for the
National Assembly have concluded and a session of parliament takes place. The
President of the National Assembly and of the Senate regulate debate, make sure the
parliamentary house rules are abided by and organise the agenda of the relevant house
through a Conference of Presidents. The President also represents and speaks for their
relevant house in matters.
Finance Bills and Social Security Finance Bills must always first be tabled in the
National Assembly, if after 40-days (20-days if Social Security) the National Assembly
fails to come to a decision on the first reading of a Finance or Social Security Finance
Bill the Government and introduce it to the Senate instead for decision, then the usual
procedure will follow for bills that cannot be agreed upon by both Houses. If these bills
still fail to pass within 70-days (50-days if Social Security) the provisions of the said
Finance or Social Security Finance Bill can be brought into force by Ordinance.
After deliberation with the Council of Ministers, the Prime Minister can make the
Government’s program or a general policy statement an issue of a vote of confidence
before the National Assembly.
The Prime Minister can do the same with Finance and Social Security Finance Bills and
of which will be considered passed unless a motion of no-confidence is carried.
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10. The National Assembly itself can also bring forth a motion of no-confidence against the
Government which requires a signature of at least one-tenth of members for it to be
introduced.
The Senate
The Senate can have no more than 348 members of which currently it has that number
of members. Rather than political parties its members are organised into parliamentary
groups which can either represent a political party or more often represent multiple
parties with a common set of goals and values. The Senate represents territorial
communities and French nationals living abroad.
Territorial communities are communes, departments and regions of France and also
special-status communities and overseas territorial communities.
The President of the Senate is elected by its members after each partial renewal election
of the Senate concludes.
Bills primarily dealing with the organisation of territorial communities must always
first be tabled in the Senate.
Other Information
Although government members cannot be members of parliament, they still have access
to both houses and can address either house whenever they request.
Declarations of war must be authorized by Parliament.
The Government must notify the Parliament of military intervention abroad and detail
its objectives which may lead to debate but no vote, when military intervention lasts
longer than 4-months then the Government must submit an extension of the military
intervention for authorization, the Government can choose for the National Assembly to
make the final definitive decision.
In order to implement its program, the Government may ask Parliament for
authorization, for a limited period, to take measures by Ordinance (which would
normally be preserved as statute law) within the Council of Ministers, after consultation
with the Council of State. They will come into force but eventually lapse if the
Parliament does not ratify them by the date set by the Enabling Act.
During two weeks of parliamentary sittings out of four, priority is given, in the order
determined by Government, to consideration of texts and debates which it requests to
be included in the agenda.
During one week of parliamentary sittings out of four, priority is given, out of the order
determined by each House, to the monitoring of Government action and to assess
public policies.
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11. One day of parliamentary sitting per month is given over to an agenda which is
determined by each House upon initiative of the opposition groups in the relevant
House, as well as upon that of the minority groups.
During at least one parliamentary sitting per week, including during extraordinary
sittings, priority is given to questions of members and to answers of the Government.
Committee of Inquiry can be set-up in either House by Statute, these committees will
then investigate related to Government oversight.
The Electoral System
Photo by Chessrat, Rosss and Sting from Wikimedia. CC BY-SA 3.0.Source.
Presidential elections happen every 5-years and uses a two-round absolute majority
system where to win in the first round a candidate requires an absolute majority of the
votes cast, otherwise a 2nd round is held between the top two candidates which is won
by simple majority.
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12. Elections for the National Assembly are held every 5-years, 556 of the members are
elected by France, 10 by overseas departments, and 11 by French nationals living
abroad. Members are directly elected using a two-round absolute majority system from
single-seat constituencies.
Prime Minister is appointed by the President of the Republic from the largest party or
coalition on who appears to have the confidence of the National Assembly after National
Assembly elections.
Senate elections are held every 3-years to renew one-half of the membership, members
are elected to 6-year terms. 328 members are elected from within France and other
overseas departments and regions, 8 further members elected by other overseas
communities and 12 elected for French nationals living abroad. The members are
indirectly elected by electoral colleges either using a 2-round absolute majority system
in departments with 1-3 members or a proportional representation system in
departments with 4 or more members.
Sources
The source for this blogpost comes from France’s 1958 constitution with amendments
through to 2008 (constituteproject.org) and so should be as accurate as possible but of
course there is a chance I may have misinterpreted some things or missed other
important things and also the constitution can be changed as well and so it is important
to cross-research if you are using this in a serious capacity.
Amendments to the constitution are proposed by the President of the Republic on
recommendation from the Prime Minister or Parliament or can be directly proposed by
Parliament. Proposals by parliament members require passing in both Houses and then
approval in a national referendum. Proposals by the Government can avoid a national
referendum if submitted by the President to parliament and it is passed by at least a
three-fifths majority in the National Assembly.
And with that behemoth done next up we will be moving on to Gabon’s system of
Government as we start the G countries.
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