French Fifth Republic

This article describes the origins and historical development of the current French state. For information on its organization and structure, see Politics of France.

French Republic Cinquième république française (French)
1958–present
Flag Emblem[I]
Motto: "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"
Anthem: "La Marseillaise"
Great Seal:
Location of France (dark green) – in Europe (green & dark grey) – in the European Union (green)
Capital and largest city	Paris 48°51.4′N 2°21.05′E
Official language and national language	French[II]
Religion	Secular State [a] In Alsace-Moselle Roman Catholicism Calvinism Lutheranism Judaism
Government	Unitary semi-presidential constitutional republic
• President	Emmanuel Macron
• Prime Minister	François Bayrou
Legislature	Parliament
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	National Assembly
Establishment
History
• Current constitution	4 October 1958 (66 years)
• Established	1958
• Disestablished	present
Currency	Euro (EUR) CFP franc (XPF)
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy (AD)
Calling code	+33[III]
ISO 3166 code	FR
Internet TLD	.fr[IV]
Preceded by French Fourth Republic

The Fifth Republic (French: Cinquième République) is France's current republican system of government. It was established on 4 October 1958 by Charles de Gaulle under the Constitution of the Fifth Republic.^[3]

The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the Fourth Republic, replacing the former parliamentary republic with a semi-presidential (or dual-executive) system^[4] that split powers between a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of government.^[5] Charles de Gaulle, who was the first French president elected under the Fifth Republic in December 1958, believed in a strong head of state, which he described as embodying l'esprit de la nation ("the spirit of the nation").^[6] Under the fifth republic, the president has the right to dissolve the national assembly and hold new parliamentary elections. If the president has a majority in the national assembly, the president sets domestic policy and the prime minister puts it into practice. During a presidential mandate, the president can also change prime ministers and reshuffle the government. If there is a different majority in the national assembly, the president is forced to nominate a prime minister from a different party, which is called a cohabitation. In the beginning of the Fifth Republic, presidential elections were held every seventh year and parliamentary elections every fifth year, which meant the president and the majority elected in the national assembly could be from different parties. Starting in the year 2000, the presidential and parliamentary elections were synchronized and are held every fifth year, which means the president always has a majority. Cohabitation is still possible if the president dissolves parliament in the middle of a presidential term.

The Fifth Republic is France's third-longest-lasting political regime, after the hereditary, feudal monarchy of the Ancien Régime and the parliamentary Third Republic (4 September 1870–10 July 1940).

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.^{[7][page needed]}

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.^{[8][page needed]} 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.^[9]

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;^[10] on 3 June 1958, a constitutional law empowered the new government to draft a new constitution of France,^[3] and another law granted Charles de Gaulle and his cabinet the power to rule by decree for up to six months, except on certain matters related to the basic rights of citizens (criminal law, etc.^[vague]).^[11] These plans were approved by more than 80% of those who voted in the referendum of 28 September 1958.^[12] The new constitution was signed into law on 4 October 1958.^[13] 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.^[14] 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.^[15] 1960 became known as the "Year of Africa" because of this wave of newly independent states.^[16] 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.^[17] The Constitutional Council declined to rule on the constitutionality of the referendum.^[18]

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.^[19] 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.^[20] 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.^[21]

Only the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, or the president of either house of Parliament could ask for a constitutional review before 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.^[22] From that date, the opposition has been able to have controversial new statutes examined for constitutionality.^[23]

Presidents of the Fifth Republic

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

  Socialist (PS)   Centrist (CD)   Centrist (REM)   Republican (UDF)   Gaullist (UDR; RPR)   Neo-Gaullist (UMP)

No.	President	Lived	from	to	Party
1	Charles de Gaulle	1890–1970	8 January 1959	28 April 1969 (resigned)		Independent
–	Alain Poher	1909–1996	28 April 1969	15 June 1969 (interim)		CD
2	Georges Pompidou	1911–1974	15 June 1969	2 April 1974 (died in office)		UDR
–	Alain Poher	1909–1996	2 April 1974	19 May 1974 (interim)		CD
3	Valéry Giscard d'Estaing	1926–2020	19 May 1974	21 May 1981		UDF
4	François Mitterrand	1916–1996	21 May 1981	17 May 1995		Socialist
5	Jacques Chirac	1932–2019	17 May 1995	16 May 2007		RPR then UMP
6	Nicolas Sarkozy	b. 1955	16 May 2007	15 May 2012		UMP
7	François Hollande	b. 1954	15 May 2012	14 May 2017		Socialist
8	Emmanuel Macron	b. 1977	14 May 2017	Incumbent		REM

Source: "Les présidents de la République depuis 1848" [Presidents of the Republic Since 1848] (in French). Présidence de la République française.

President image gallery

• 
  Charles de Gaulle
  (1890–1970)
  Served 1959–1969
• 
  Alain Poher
  (1909–1996)
  Served 1969, 1974 (as interim)
• 
  Georges Pompidou
  (1911–1974)
  Served 1969–1974
• 
  Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
  (1926–2020)
  Served 1974–1981
• 
  François Mitterrand
  (1916–1996)
  Served 1981–1995
• 
  Jacques Chirac
  (1932–2019)
  Served 1995–2007
• 
  Nicolas Sarkozy
  (b. 1955)
  Served 2007–2012
• 
  François Hollande
  (b. 1954)
  Served 2012–2017
• 
  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)

Prime minister, Michel Barnier of Les Républicains.

  Socialist (PS)   Centrist (RE)   Republican (UDF)   Gaullist (UNR; UDR; RPR)   Neo-Gaullist (UMP; LR)

Name	Term start	Term end	Political party		President
Michel Debré	8 January 1959	14 April 1962	UNR			Charles de Gaulle (1959–1969)
Georges Pompidou	14 April 1962	10 July 1968	UNR then UDR
Maurice Couve de Murville	10 July 1968	20 June 1969	UDR
Jacques Chaban-Delmas	20 June 1969	6 July 1972	UDR			Georges Pompidou (1969–1974)
Pierre Messmer	6 July 1972	27 May 1974	UDR
Jacques Chirac (1st term)	27 May 1974	26 August 1976	UDR			Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (1974–1981)
Raymond Barre	26 August 1976	21 May 1981	Independent
Pierre Mauroy	21 May 1981	17 July 1984	Socialist			François Mitterrand (1981–1995)
Laurent Fabius	17 July 1984	20 March 1986	Socialist
Jacques Chirac (2nd term)	20 March 1986	10 May 1988	RPR
Michel Rocard	10 May 1988	15 May 1991	Socialist
Édith Cresson	15 May 1991	2 April 1992	Socialist
Pierre Bérégovoy	2 April 1992	29 March 1993	Socialist
Édouard Balladur	29 March 1993	18 May 1995	RPR
Alain Juppé	18 May 1995	3 June 1997	RPR			Jacques Chirac (1995–2007)
Lionel Jospin	3 June 1997	6 May 2002	Socialist
Jean-Pierre Raffarin	6 May 2002	31 May 2005	UMP
Dominique de Villepin	31 May 2005	17 May 2007	UMP
François Fillon	17 May 2007	15 May 2012	UMP			Nicolas Sarkozy (2007–2012)
Jean-Marc Ayrault	15 May 2012	31 March 2014	Socialist			François Hollande (2012–2017)
Manuel Valls	31 March 2014	6 December 2016	Socialist
Bernard Cazeneuve	6 December 2016	10 May 2017	Socialist
Édouard Philippe	15 May 2017	3 July 2020	LR then Independent			Emmanuel Macron (since 2017)
Jean Castex	3 July 2020	16 May 2022	RE
Élisabeth Borne	16 May 2022	9 January 2024	RE
Gabriel Attal	9 January 2024	5 September 2024	RE
Michel Barnier	5 September 2024	Incumbent	LR

Source: "Former Prime Ministers of the Fifth Republic". Government of France.

Institutions of the Fifth Republic

Institutions of the Fifth Republic

Timeline diagram

See also

• 1958 Guinean constitutional referendum
• French colonial empire
• List of French possessions and colonies
• Politics of France

Notes

1. The current Constitution of France does not specify a national emblem.^[1] This emblem is used by the President, Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs,^[2] and is on the cover of French passports. For other symbols, see National symbols of France.
2. For information about regional languages see Languages of France.
3. The overseas regions and collectivities form part of the French telephone numbering plan, but have their own country calling codes: Guadeloupe +590; Martinique +596; French Guiana +594, Réunion and Mayotte +262; Saint Pierre and Miquelon +508. The overseas territories are not part of the French telephone numbering plan; their country calling codes are: New Caledonia +687, French Polynesia +689; Wallis and Futuna +681.
4. In addition to .fr, several other Internet TLDs are used in French overseas départements and territories: .re, .mq, .gp, .tf, .nc, .pf, .wf, .pm, .gf and .yt. France also uses .eu, shared with other members of the European Union. The .cat domain is used in Catalan-speaking territories.

1. Excluding Alsace-Moselle

References

1. Article II of the Constitution of France (1958)
2. "The lictor's fasces". elysee.fr. 20 November 2012.
3. Loi constitutionnelle du 3 juin 1957 portant dérogation transitoire aux dispositions de l'article 90 de la Constitution (in French).
4. Lessig, Lawrence (1993). "The Path of the Presidency". East European Constitutional Review. Fall 1993 / Winter 1994 (2/3): 104 – via Chicago Unbound, University of Chicago Law School.
5. Richburg, Keith B. (25 September 2000). "French President's Term Cut to Five Years". The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
6. Kubicek, Paul (2015). European Politics. Routledge. pp. 154–156, 163. ISBN 978-1-317-34853-5.
7. Philip M. Williams, Crisis and Compromise: Politics in the Fourth Republic (1958)
8. John E. Talbott, The War Without a Name: France in Algeria, 1954–1962 (1980).
9. Jonathan Fenby, The General: Charles de Gaulle and the France He Saved (2010) pp 375–408.
10. "Fac-similé JO du 02/06/1958, page 05279 – Legifrance". www.legifrance.gouv.fr.
11. Loi n^o 58–520 du 3 juin 1958 relative aux pleins pouvoirs (in French).
12. Proclamation des résultats des votes émis par le peuple français à l'occasion de sa consultation par voie de référendum, le 28 septembre 1958
13. "Constitution". Journal Officiel de la République Française. 5 October 1958. Archived from the original on 3 June 2020 – via Légifrance.
14. "Fac-similé JO du 09/01/1959, page 00673 – Legifrance". www.legifrance.gouv.fr.
15. Cooper, Frederick (July 2008). "Possibility and Constraint: African Independence in Historical Perspective". Journal of African History. 49 (2): 167–196. doi:10.1017/S0021853708003915. S2CID 145273499.
16. Abayomi Azikiwe, "50th Anniversary of the 'Year of Africa' 1960", Pan-African News Wire, 21 April 2010.
17. Constitutional Council, Proclamation Archived 21 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine 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
18. Constitutional Council, Decision 62-20 DC Archived 10 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine of 6 November 1962
19. Morton, F. L. (Winter 1988). "Judicial Review in France: A Comparative Analysis". American Journal of Comparative Law. 36 (1): 89–110. doi:10.2307/840185. JSTOR 840185.
20. Letourneur, M.; Drago, R. (Spring 1958). "The Rule of Law as Understood in France". The American Journal of Comparative Law. 7 (2): 147–177. doi:10.2307/837562. JSTOR 837562.
21. Constitutional Council, Decision 71-44 DC Archived 10 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine of 16 July 1971
22. Loi constitutionnelle n^o 74-904 du 29 octobre 1974 portant révision de l'article 61 de la Constitution (in French).
23. Alain Lancelot, La réforme de 1974, avancée libéral ou progrès de la démocratie ?

Further reading

Further information: Charles de Gaulle § Further reading

• Atkin, Nicholas. The Fifth French Republic (European History in Perspective) (2005) excerpt and text search
• Bell, David S. and John Gaffney, eds. The Presidents of the French Fifth Republic (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013)
• Bell,David, et al. A Biographical Dictionary of French Political Leaders since 1870 (1990)
• Bell, David S., and Byron Criddle. Exceptional Socialists: The Case of the French Socialist Party (2014)
• Berstein, Serge, and Jean-Pierre Rioux. The Pompidou Years, 1969–1974 (The Cambridge History of Modern France) (2000) excerpt
• Brouard, Sylvain et al. The French Fifth Republic at Fifty: Beyond Stereotypes (French Politics, Society and Culture) (2009)
• Chabal, Emile, ed. France since the 1970s: History, Politics and Memory in an Age of Uncertainty (2015) Excerpt
• Cole, Alistair. François Mitterrand: A study in political leadership (1994)
• Corbett, Anne, and Bob Moon, eds. Education in France: continuity and change in the Mitterrand years 1981–1995 (Routledge, 2002)
• Fenby, Jonathan The General: Charles de Gaulle and the France He Saved (2010) pp. 375–635.
• Fenby, Jonathan France: A Modern History from the Revolution to the War with Terror (2016) pp. 359–484
• Gaffney, John. France in the Hollande presidency: The unhappy republic (Springer, 2015).
• Gaffney, John. Political Leadership in France. From Charles de Gaulle to Nicolas Sarkozy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010)
• Gaffney, John (2012). "Leadership and Style in the French Fifth Republic: Nicolas Sarkozy's Presidency in Historical and Cultural Perspective" (PDF). French Politics. 10 (4): 345–363. doi:10.1057/fp.2012.18. S2CID 143199648.
• Jackson, Julian. De Gaulle (2018) 887pp; the most recent major biography
• Kuhn, Raymond. "Mister unpopular: François Hollande and the exercise of presidential leadership, 2012–14." Modern & Contemporary France 22.4 (2014): 435–457. online
• Kulski, W. W. De Gaulle and the World: The Foreign Policy of the Fifth French Republic (1966) online free to borrow
• Lewis-Beck, Michael S., et al. eds. French Presidential Elections (Palgrave Macmillan; 2012)
• Nester, William R. De Gaulle's Legacy: The Art of Power in France's Fifth Republic (2014)
• Praud, Jocelyne and Sandrine Dauphin, eds. Parity Democracy: Women's Political Representation in Fifth Republic France (2011)
• Raymond, Gino G., The French Communist Party During Fifth Republic: A Crisis of Leadership and Ideology. (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005)
• Rogoff, Martin A. French Constitutional Law: Cases and Materials (Durham, Carolina Academic Press, 2010.
• Short, Philip. Mitterrand: A Study in Ambiguity (2013)
• Thody, Philip. The Fifth French Republic: Presidents, Politics and Personalities: A Study of French Political Culture (1998) excerpt and text search
• Wall, Irwin. France Votes: The Election of François Hollande (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.)
• Williams, Charles. The Last Great Frenchman: A Life of General De Gaulle (1997)

In French

• Chevallier, Jean-Jacques; Guy Carcassonne; Olivier Duhamel (2017). Histoire de la V^e République: 1958–2017 (in French) (16th ed.). Paris: Dalloz. ISBN 978-2247169221.
• Mayaffre, Damon (2012). Le Discours présidentiel sous la Ve République. Chirac, Mitterrand, Giscard, Pompidou, de Gaulle (in French). Paris: Presses de Sciences Po. ISBN 978-2724612448.

External links

• LegiFrance: French Constitution of 1958 (in English)