France: France Government Profile

 Francois Hollande beat the conservative incumbent, Nicolas Sarkozy, in May 2012 to become France's first Socialist president since Francois Mitterrand held the post from 1981 to 1995.

Despite coming from his party's moderate win, Mr Hollande campaigned on strongly left-wing proposals, including a 75% top income tax rate, 60,000 new teachers, and the renegotiation of the European Union fiscal growth pact.

His Socialists went on to win a comfortable majority in the June 2012 parliamentary elections.

But by the end of 2012, Mr Hollande's economic plans were in trouble, with growth stagnant and the continuing woes of the eurozone promising no relief.

France continued to dip in an out of recession throughout the next year, and Mr Hollande's failure to make good on his promise to reduce unemployment by the end of 2013 left him with one of the lowest approval ratings of any post-war French president.

In November 2014, he said that would not seek a second term in office if he failed to deliver on his pledge to bring down joblessness.
Austerity measures

Mr Hollande has also come under pressure from Brussels, with the European Commission urging France to reduce its budget deficit and bring down public spending - the highest per capita in Europe.

But his policy of raising taxes rather than cutting spending to bring down France's big deficit - while popular with his own supporters - was increasingly resented by the wider public.

In August 2014 he ordered his prime minister to form a new cabinet after three ministers publicly criticised his austerity strategy.

Widespread discontent over the Socialist government's failure to turn around the French economy has translated into several election breakthroughs for the far-right National Front - in 2014's municipal, European and senate elections.

On the international stage, Mr Hollande has taken a strong lead in pushing for a more interventionist approach towards shoring up states threatened with destabilisation.

In January 2013, he sent troops to Mali to help government regain control over the north of the country from Islamist militants, and in December he deployed additional peacekeepers to the Central African Republic to help restore order after a rebel takeover.

Born in 1954 in Rouen, Normandy, and a product of the "grandes ecoles" elite education system, Mr Hollande was an economic advisor to President Mitterrand, and became an MP in 1988.

He rose to lead the party in the long years of opposition in 1997-2008, and stood down over a party row about the failed presidential campaign of his long-standing partner, Segolene Royal.

Mr Hollande and Ms Royal later split up over his affair with journalist Valerie Trierweiler, who moved into the Elysee Palace with him after his victory in the 2012 presidential election. Less than two years later, Ms Trierweiler moved out of the presidential residence after it emerged that that Mr Hollande had been having an affair with an actress, Julie Gayet.

Prime minister: Manuel Valls

Manuel Valls was appointed as prime minister by President Hollande in March 2014. He replaced Jean-Marc Ayrault, who resigned after the governing Socialist party suffered heavy losses in municipal elections.

The 51-year-old Mr Valls had served as interior minister since 2012 and opinion polls long suggested that he would be a popular choice for prime minister, though he leans to the right of most of his colleagues.

He has a reputation for dynamism and as a tough talker who has taken a firm stance on law and order. President Hollande said Mr Valls would lead a "fighting government" and that it was "time for a new direction".

The Socialists' poll drubbing was put down to growing discontent over the economy after the government failed to keep unemployment figures down and boost economic growth.

Mr Valls, who is twice married with four children, is the son of a Catalan artist who left Spain during the dictatorship of General Franco.

INTRODUCTION

Although the Greeks might claim that democracy originates from the ancient city state of Athens, the French could plausibily argue that modern democracy emanates from the French Revolution of 1789 - although the course of democracy in France has hardly run smooth since then.

Indeed, unlike the American political system  and the British political system  which essentially have existed in their current form for centuries, although the French political system has evolved since 1789 - with the two world wars having a major impact - the current form of the French system is a much more recent construct dating from 1958 and today's Fifth Republic – which centralises substantial power in the President - is a response to the political weaknesses of the pre-Second World War Third Republic and post-war Fourth Republic.

The Fifth Republic came about following a political crisis over France's colonial war in Algeria, when Charles de Gaulle took power under a new constitution which gave the President new executive powers compared to the Fourth Republic, making the post uniquely powerful in European politics.

In the French political system, the relationship between the President and the Prime Minister – the first- and second-highest authorities respectively - is critical. It is not always the case that these two individuals come from the same political party or part of the political spectrum and, when they are of different political persuasion (as was the case in 1986, 1993 and 1997), the two figures must practice a process of “cohabitation”.

THE PRESIDENCY

Four of France's five Republics have had presidents as their heads of state, making the French presidency the oldest presidency in Europe still to exist in some form. However, in each of the Republics' constitutions, the President's powers, functions and duties - and his relation with French governments - have differed. Under the Third and Fourth Republic, which were parliamentary systems, the office of President of the Republic was a largely ceremonial and powerless one. The constitution of the current Fifth Republic greatly increased the President's powers.

Consequently the Presidency is easily the most powerful position in the French political system. Duties include heading the armed forces, appointment of the Prime Minister, power to dismiss the National Assembly, chairing the Council of Ministers (equivalent to the Cabinet in Britain), appointing the members of the highest appellate court and the Constitutional Court, chairing the Higher Council of the Judiciary, negotiating all foreign treaties, and the power to call referenda, but all domestic decisions must be approved by the Prime Minister. The President has a very limited form of suspensive veto: when presented with a law, he or she can request another reading of it by Parliament, but only once per law. The official residence of the President is the Elysée Palace.

Since 1875, the President has been barred from appearing in person before the National Assembly or the Senate in order to ensure that the executive and the legislature are kept seperate.

Candidates for the Presidency must obtain 500 sponsoring signatures of elected officials from at least 30 departments or overseas territories. The post is directly elected in a two-stage voting system. A candidate who receives more than 50% of the vote in the first round is elected. However, if no candidate receives 50%, there is a second round which is a run-off between the two candidates who secured the most votes in the first round. This is held two weeks later. All elections are held on a Sunday.

The term is five years, a reduction from the previous seven years. A President can seek a second term and normally secures it. Indeed only one President of the Fifth Republic has failed a re-election bid: Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.

In May 2012, Nicolas Sarkozy, the incumbent President and candidate of the conservative UMP, was beaten in the second round of the Presidential election by the Socialist Party candidate Françoise Hollande, the self-syled 'Mr Normal', who gained 51.63% of the vote. Hollande is the first socialist President in France for 17 years and has never previously held ministerial office.

The next Presidential election will be held in 2017.

THE EXECUTIVE

The head of the government is the Prime Minister who is nominated by the majority party or coalition in the National Assembly and appointed by the President for an indefinite term.

The Prime Minister recommends Ministers to the President, sets out Ministers' duties and responsibilities, and manages the daily affairs of government. He issues decrees and is responsible for national defence.

The current Prime Minister - appointed by the new President Françoise Hollande in May 2012 - is Jean-Marc Ayrault who was previously leader of the Socialist group in parliament.

The Council of Ministers - typically consisting of around 15 individuals - is headed by the Prime Minister but chaired by the President. It is customary for the President, in consultation with the Prime Minister, to select elected representatives from the National Assembly for ministerial posts, but this is not a set rule. For example, there has been Raymond Barre, Prime Minister (1976-81), who prior to that appointment was a university economics lecturer, while Thierry Breton, Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry (2005-07) was a business man.

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

The lower house in the French political system is the National Assembly. This has 577 seats representing single-member constituencies. In the next set of elections in 2012, it is planned to give the 2.5 million French people living abroad the opportunity to vote in one of 11 constituencies grouping areas of the world together.

Members of the National Assembly are directly elected in a two-stage voting system. A candidate who receives more than 50% of the vote in the first round is elected. However, if no candidate receives 50%, there is a second round which is a run-off between all those first round candidates who secured more than 12.5% of the votes in that first round. This is held one week later. All elections are held on a Sunday.

Members of the National Assembly serve five-year terms.

The National Assembly tends to specialise in scrutinising day-to-day government business. In cases of disagreement with the Senate, the position of the National Assembly prevails. Critics have argued that the Assembly is weak in terms of setting its own agenda and holding the exeutive to account.

The next Assembly election will be held on 10 and 17 June 2012.

THE SENATE

The upper house in the French political system is the Senate. This currently has a total of 348 seats (the number depends on population changes): 323 representing mainland France, 13 representing French overseas territories, and 12 representing French nationals abroad. Many French Senators are also high-level local officials.

Members of the Senate are indirectly elected by an electoral college made up mainly of local officials which provides a rural and therefore Right-wing bias to the process. Indeed, since the Fifth Republic was established in 1958, Right-wing parties have always held a majority in the Senate until the elections of September 2011 when the Left took control for the first time. Members serve a six-year term - a reduction from the previous nine years - and one-half of seats (previously one-third) come up for election every three years.

The Senate tends to specialise in constitutional matters and foreign affairs including European integration (it has a 'listening post' in Brussels, the headquarters of the European Union).

POLITICAL PARTIES

French politics are characterised by two politically opposed groupings: one Left-wing centred around the French Socialist Party and the other Right-wing and centred previously around the Rassemblement pour la République (RPR) and now its successor the neo-Gaullist Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). The executive branch is currently composed mostly of the UMP.

In France, unlike most other democracies, the majority of national politicians are former civil servants (often high-ranking). Most Presidents, many Cabinet members and a very large number of parliament members graduated from the same prestigious school, the Ecole Nationale d'Administration.

The French take their politics seriously and voter participation is very high (it was 79.48% in the 2012 Presidential election).

THE JUDICIARY

France uses a civil legal system; that is, law arises primarily from written statutes; judges are not to make law, but merely to interpret it. The basic principles of the rule of law were laid down in the Napoleonic Code.

The highest appellate court in France is called the Cour de Cassation and the six chief judges are appointed by the President. Unlike the supreme courts in other countries (such as the USA), it does not have the power of judicial review.

The power of judicial review is vested in a separate Constitutional Court which is a unique creation of the Fifth Republic. The court consists of nine members: one appointment made by each of the President, the President of the Senate, and the President of the National Assembly every three years for a nine-year, non-renewable term. This contrasts with the US system where the President makes all appointments to the Supreme Court but then the appointments are for life.

All former Presidents of the Republic are de jure members of the Constitutional Court.

The Court meets infrequently, only upon referral of legislation by the President, the Prime Minister or the the Parliament.