Since the 1789 Revolution brought an end to the French monarchy, the people of France have lived through five republics, two imperial dictatorships, and several experiments in government. The current regime, called the Fifth Republic, was born in 1958 after the Fourth Republic crumbled under the pressures of the Algerian War for Independence. Parliament lured back WWII Résistance hero Charles de Gaulle into a leadership role along with a new constitution offering the President enormous executive powers. He (and, so far, it’s always a “he”) appoints the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, and can dissolve the National Assembly and call for new elections at any time. If that’s not enough, the President is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and has the right to impose dictatorial rule in times of national crisis. With enough pull to carry out personal pet projects, the presidents of the Fifth Republic (notably Mitterrand) have left their marks on the city much in the same fashion as the great French kings, with grandiose architectural and technological projects. Chosen directly by popular vote, the President serves for a five-year term (changed from a seven-year term in 2000), and can be re-elected once.
The Parliament consists of two houses. The lower house – the directly elected National Assembly – has 577 members, who serve five-year terms. The Assembly is more powerful than the indirectly elected Senate, whose 321 members serve nine-year terms. The Prime Minister’s main job is to direct and carry out government policy. Although he is appointed by the President, he answers to the National Assembly, and therefore the President must appoint a Prime Minister of the same political party as the Assembly majority in order to ensure the smooth running of the nation. When the Assembly majority and Prime Minister are of a different political party than the President, this is called “cohabitation.” This first happened in 1986, and is considered by some a good way to keep the powers of the President in balance with the Parliament.
