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French Politics: A Brief Primer

  • Aidan Sterk

    • France, formally known as the French Republic, is in Western Europe and is known as one of the world’s superpowers in the Western world. France has a rich and storied history throughout time, transforming from a kingdom into a democratic society in a violent revolution, as well as being host to much of the primary location of fighting in both World Wars in western Europe. This article will examine the political system of the current French political system, as well as provide some background and history.

    Historical Information

    Much of modern-day France was settled by a Germanic tribe called the Gauls before the Romans (based in present-day Italy) seized the area. Over time, a successive tribe Germanic in origin then called the Franks (who were from the Lower Rhine on the present day French-German border) created the Kingdom of Francia in the early Middle Ages. The Kingdom of Francia was part of what was known then as the Carolingian Empire, ruled by the Franks.

    A formal treaty that was established in 843 called the Treaty of Verdun split the Carolingian Empire into three sectors with the western area becoming the Kingdom of France. The Kingdom of France was managed and ruled by the French Monarchy, which led the Kingdom to fight in several wars, the most notable of which in this time being the Hundred Years’ War, fought with the Kingdom of England.

    This period in the Middle Ages was also a time of exploration and discovery, as French ships sailed the seas to found colonies in other newly discovered parts of the world rich with rare materials that would provide it a strategic advantage over its adversaries. France, in this time, was much like any other European power in that it was divided between an upper class with a luxurious lifestyle, made up of members mostly from the Monarchy, and a very large lower class that lived in spartan conditions, usually without much in the way of savings. This led to a schism between the upper and lower classes, with the small middle class usually staying out of this conflict.

    The French, under the direction of King Louis XVI, assisted the forces engaged in conflict with the British during the American Revolution, helping to establish the United States of America from the former British colonies. However, the negative fiscal impact incurred from this intervention as well as other factors, including the class conflict, brought social unrest to France, which eventually erupted into full scale rebellion, culminating with the execution of the French King. The formation of First French Republic, which established founding documents like the Declaration of the Rights of Man (constructed in a similar manner and no doubt influenced by the American Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights) existed for some time under the command of General Napoleon Bonaparte, who declared himself Emperor of France. Napoleon fought a war with multiple European powers, who eventually defeated him at the Battle of Waterloo, leading to his exile to the island of Saint Helena, where he passed away, bringing the First French Republic to an end.

    The Second French Republic was then created, with Napoleon Bonaparte, III consolidating control over the French government. However, the second French Republic was destroyed after the events of the Franco-Prussian war (the Prussians were a people that inhabited an area of modern-day Germany) which saw it in direct conflict with the North German Confederation under the command of Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.

    The Third French Republic was created in 1870 from the remnants of the Second, existing for much of the early industrial era. The Third French Republic engaged directly with a unified Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Ottoman Empire in the First World War alongside its main allies Britain, Italy, Russia, and the United States. France itself became the location of multiple large scale ground battles that eventually transformed into trench warfare. When World War I ended, France and Britain demanded severe punishment of Germany, which led to severe German dissatisfaction, culminating in the rise of Nazi leader Adolph Hitler to power. Hitler’s Nazi forces then invaded multiple countries in Europe, such as Poland, and then entered France, where the Nazis removed the present government and installed a puppet state, known as the Vichy French. However, Free French forces who were aligned with the Allied Powers, mostly French troops loyal to the Republic stationed overseas, continued their fight against the Axis powers (who were made up of Germany, Japan, and Italy, with some smaller allies). The Allied Powers launched an invasion of Normandy (known informally as D-Day), a province in France located on the western coast, across the channel from Britain, which ended with a successful liberation of the French people in 1944 who had been under Nazi rule.

    The Fourth French Republic was born after 1944, and with the war ending, the national attention turned to managing independence movements in French colonies overseas. The two colonies that broke out into the most severe conflict were Algeria and French Indochina (which was a French overseas holding comprised of current day Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, among several smaller countries). As a result of these rebellions and the immense strain they caused on the French financial system, the mainland granted formal independence to most of its overseas holdings, retaining only a tiny fraction. The Fifth French Republic was then born, with President Charles de Gaulle managing the nation, with France taking a more active role in the world, where it became a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and a key member of the Northern Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). This led the French nation into the modern era.

    Explanation of States of Provinces

    The mainland and overseas territories of the Fifth French Republic are divided into three main units and sub-units. The highest level of these units is the formal Department, which is like a county in other countries born from British political systems. These are divided between ninety-six Departments located on mainland France and five overseas Departments. The two sub-divisions within these Departments are called Arrondissements (which are equivalent to a large district) and Cantons (which are akin to smaller districts). Arrondissements and Cantons have no independence from the federal government, but they do manage government services that are provided to each level of government. Since there are ninety-six formal Departments, they will not be listed in this article to save space. Instead, this article will use the informal French regions, of which there are eighteen on the mainland: Alsace, Aquitaine, Auvergne, Brittany, Burgundy, Centre-Val de Lorie, Champagne-Ardenne, Corsica, Franche-Comté, Île-de-France, Languedoc-Roussillon, Limousin, Lorraine, Lower Normandy, Midi-Pyrénées, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Pays de la Loire, Picardy, Poitou-Charentes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Rhône-Alpes, and Upper Normandy, as well as five overseas regions: French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Mayotte, Martinique, and Réunion.

    Political Institutions and Officers

    Executive Branch

    The President of France is the leader of the Executive Branch, possessing the power to appoint the Prime Minister and leading meetings of the Council of Ministers, which is a form of Cabinet Meeting. The President also has the authority to appoint members of Parliament to the Executive Branch that the Prime Minister typically chooses. When the President and the French Parliament are of the same political party, there is rarely disagreement over legislation, whereas if different political parties occupy both, they agree to a power-sharing dynamic known formally in French politics as Cohabitation. The current President of France is Emmanuel Macron, who has held office since being elected in the 2017 French Presidential Election.

    The Prime Minister of France is the leader of government and holds the power to manage the numerous public agencies based around the nation. The French Executive Cabinet is formally comprised of members of Parliament who are elected by the Lower Chamber to posts in the Executive Branch, but the Executive Branch must secure approval from Parliament to pass any legislation. However, the Executive ministers can propose legislation of their own.

    There are three ranks inherent to members of the Executive Branch: formal Ministers retain senior status and are the overall leaders of each government agency, while Deputy Ministers assist Ministers with enacting their administrative agenda. The third rank is that of State Secretaries, who act as support staff and assist with lower-level government work.

    Legislative Branch

    The Parliament of France is comprised of two legislative chambers, known as the Senate (which is the upper chamber) and the National Assembly (which is the lower chamber). The National Assembly is the primary lawmaking chamber and is made up of 577 lawmakers, known as deputes, while the Senate is made up of 348 lawmakers, known as sénateurs or sénatrices.

    The French parliament meets for nine months each legislative year, but the President can call special sessions of Parliament under extraordinary circumstances. Both chambers can propose legislation, but in a comparable manner to the political system in the United States, bills related to finances have to originate in the National Assembly first before going through the Senate. Laws relating to territories or laws regarding French citizens who live overseas must go through the Senate first.

    Judicial Branch:

    The Judicial Branch of France is organized into various groupings of Justices based on the level of government. The highest-level appeals Court in France is the Court of Cassation, comprised of more than 120 judges at any point in time. The Court of Cassation is composed of six Court chambers, with fifteen judges being formally organized into each chamber. The quorum to consider a case in each chamber is seven, meaning that seven judges need to be present and accounted for when hearing cases.

    The lower-level Court systems are as follows in order of hierarchy: Court of Appeal, Court of Assize, as well as major and minor jurisdictions. The Court of Appeal hears cases only brought forth from appellate jurisdiction and rules on most appeals cases. Each Court of Appeal panel is comprised of three justices and the panels themselves are organized into specific divisions. The Court of Assize is a department level court with the ability to hear cases brought forth from original and appeals jurisdiction regarding felony offenses. The makeup of Court of Assize panels depends on the type of case it hears; when configured in a trial court format, it usually consists of three justices and six jurors but may be configured in other numbers for greater offenses, sometimes without a grand jury being present. An appellate court configuration typically consists of panels of three justices with nine jurors or seven justices without a grand jury option. The major jurisdiction court usually decides on less severe cases and is either configured to be a Criminal, Civil, or Juvenile Court with the typical configuration being three justices. The minor jurisdiction court usually decides on the least severe cases, called summary offenses, or civil cases.

    Method of Election

    France holds elections for federal office based on the national level. The President of France and members of the Parliament are elected directly by the constituent at each level in a two-round format. The two-round system (a plurality-runoff voting method) elected is the same system used in some U.S. states (typically referred to as a jungle or nonpartisan blanket primary) and worldwide. The voting system works by all candidates running on the same ballot in the first round, and if the leading candidate does not receive a majority of the votes in the first round, the top two candidates in the electorate advance to the second round, where only one candidate will win. The system originated in France and has found export to the other countries worldwide that use it.

    The elections for the President of France are held nationally, with each voter possessing one vote for one candidate. All the candidates run on the same ballot for the first round, and as mentioned above, if the leading candidate with the most votes does not receive a majority of the vote, the top two candidates advance to the second round, and all the other candidates in the first round are eliminated from contention. The candidate for President with the most votes in the second-round wins, becoming the French President. The term length for the President of the Republic, as the President is formally known, is a five-year term (in prior years, it was a seven-year term).

    The elections for the Senate’s 348 lawmakers are held in such a way that the Senators are elected indirectly by delegates in each municipality (usually officials in the government), using a distinctive style of voting in each municipality depending on its size. Senators are elected to six-year terms and half of Senate seats are elected every three years. In departments where up to three Senators are elected, a candidate must receive a majority of votes cast and an amount of votes equivalent to one-fourth of registered voters in the department to be elected in the first round. If no candidate receives a majority, the candidates advance to a second round, where a majority wins. There are extraordinary circumstances in the event of a tie: the older candidate by age is elected. In departments where four or more Senators are elected, the election takes a more formal proportional voting shape: the elections are held using proportional representation with the highest average of the vote being the threshold, and Senate seats are given to candidates based on their position in the proportional party list. In the event of a vacancy, each Senator is to run with a replacement candidate: this replacement takes office if the candidate was elected with a majority of the vote, but in the proportional voting system, the runner up to the elected Senate member is the replacement. However, under certain circumstances, a special election is held to replace the senator, but it cannot be held in the year before a new Senate election.

    The elections for the National Assembly’s 577 lawmakers are held every five years in single-member constituencies elected by the district’s populace. The National Assembly uses the same method as electing the President in a two-round system. A candidate can be elected in the first round with a majority of the vote and if they garner a quarter of registered voters in the district. If one of these thresholds is not met, the candidates who won the support of 12.5% of registered voters advance to the second round. However, if only one candidate meets that threshold, the two candidates with the highest vote share advance to the second round. In the second round, the candidate with a plurality of the vote (meaning the most votes out of all candidates) is elected to be the Assemblymember.

    Major Political Parties

    There are eight major parties in the current French political system: Renaissance, The Republicans, National Rally, the Socialist Party, La France Insoumise, the Democratic Movement, Horizons, and The Ecologists. This article will provide a brief background on each major party.

    Results of the Last National Election

    For the purposes of this article, we will consider the last Presidential and Parliamentary Election in France. In the 2022 French Presidential Election, current President Emmanuel Macron of the party Ensemble, won in the Second Round against Marine Le Pen, the leader of the National Rally. Macron won the election with 18,768,639 (58.55%) votes to Le Pen’s 13,288,686 votes (41.45%).

    In the 2024 French Legislative Election, the left-wing National Popular Front won the most districts with 180 seats across two rounds but fell short of a majority (in the current parliament, 289 seats are required for a majority). Ensemble, the ruling political Alliance, won 159 seats in the election while the National Rally/UXD Alliance won 142 seats. The center-right LR came in fourth with thirty-nine seats, which enabled Ensemble and LR to enter into a coalition that lasted until a motion of no confidence with the National Rally/UXD Alliance and National Popular Front Alliance joining in tandem was voted on.

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