Impact of the Fifth Republic on France, The

Edited by William G. Andrews & Stanley Hoffmann

Paperback : 9780873954402, 350 pages, June 1984
Out of print (Paperback)

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Table of contents

Preface

Key to Abbreviations

Part I. Structure

1. The 1958 Constitution

2. Executive Councils and Committees

3. Executive Personnel

Part II. Law Making

4. Domain of Law

5. Executive Law Making

6. Parliamentary Law Making

Part III. Government and Society

7. The Transformation of French Society, 1946–1962

8. Elements for a Constitutional Theory

Conclusion

Appendix A: The Domain of Law in the Constitution

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Description

The French have searched for five generations through five republics and several other regimes for a stable political system. The Fifth Republic, born in 1958, seems to be succeeding where many others have failed. What are the reasons and conditions for the French consensus on a system of government for the first time since the ancien regime?

The first twenty years of the Fifth Republic encompass four presidential elections, alternating political control of the National Assembly, and years of rapid economic growth and contraction. Thus a variety of events now allow an evaluation of the efficacy of the Fifth Republic. The chapters of this book examine: the governmental framework and various political groups that have vied for control of it; industrial development and modernization; education and culture; and foreign policy. Containing both favorable and critical assessments, the book provides a comprehensive balance sheet on the Fifth Republic and the influence of Charles DeGaulle.

William G. Andrews is Professor of Political Science at the State University of New York College at Brockport. He is the author of French Politics and Algeria and other books on comparative politics. Stanley Hoffmann is Professor of Government at Harvard University. He is co-author of In Search of France, and the author of Decline or Renewal? France Since the 1930s, and other books on international politics.