France

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of France Image File history File links Logo_de_la_République_française. ... The Politics of France take place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of France is head of state and the Prime Minister of France head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. ...

Constitution Fifth Republic Government of France President Nicolas Sarkozy List Prime Minister François Fillon List French Parliament National Assembly Senate Congress Constitutional Council Court of Cassation Political parties Gaullism Elections Presidential: 2002 - 2007 National Assembly: 2002 - 2007 Human rights Subdivisions Regions Departments EU Politics Foreign relations Minister of Foreign Affairs Political scandals French Portal

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The Palais Bourbon, front

The French National Assembly (French: Assemblée nationale) is one of the two houses of the bicameral Parliament of France under the Fifth Republic. The other is the Senate (“Sénat”). This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Symbol of the French government The government of France is a semi-presidential system based on the French Constitution of the fifth Republic, in which the nation declares itself to be an indivisible, secular, democratic, and social Republic. The constitution provides for a separation of powers and proclaims Frances... Symbol of the French government The President of the French Republic (French: ) colloquially referred to as President of France, is Frances elected Head of State. ... Nicolas Sarkozy   (born Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa on 28 January 1955 in Paris, France) is the President-Elect of France after defeating Socialist Party leader Ségolène Royal during the 2007 election. ... // Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (20 December 1848 - 2 December 1852) Louis Jules Trochu (September 4, 1870 - January 22, 1871) (Interim President) Adolphe Thiers (17 February 1871 - 24 May 1873) (Head of Executive Power to 31 August 1871) Marshal Patrice de Mac-Mahon (24 May 1873 - 30 January 1879) Jules Armand... The Prime Minister of France (Premier ministre de la France) is the functional head of the Cabinet of France. ... François Fillon (IPA: ; born March 4, 1954 in Le Mans, Sarthe) is the Prime Minister of France (since May 17, 2007). ... This page is a list of French prime ministers. ... The Parlement of France is bicameral, and consists of the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) and the Senate (Sénat). ... The Senate (in French : le Sénat) is the upper house of the Parliament of France. ... The French Congress (French: ) is the name given to the body created when both houses of the present-day French Parliament – the French National Assembly and the French Senate – reunite at the Château of Versailles to vote on revisions to the French constitution. ... A republican guard giving directions to visitors at the front entrance of the Constitutional Council The Constitutional Council (Conseil Constitutionnel) was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958. ... The Court of Cassation (Cour de cassation in French) is the main court of last resort in France. ... Political parties in France lists political parties in France. ... Charles de Gaulle, in his generals uniform Gaullism (French: Gaullisme) is a French political ideology based on the thought and action of Charles de Gaulle. ... France is a representative democracy. ... The 2002 French presidential election consisted of a first round election on 21 April 2002, and a runoff election between the top two candidates (Jacques Chirac and Jean-Marie Le Pen) on 5 May 2002. ... The 2007 French presidential election, the ninth of the Fifth French Republic was held to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as president of France for a five-year term. ... These are the results of the French legislative election of 2002 Category: ... The French legislative elections took place on 10 June and 17 June 2007 to elect the 13th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, a few weeks after the French presidential election run-off on 6 May. ... In France, the country is often called the patrie des droits de lHomme (human rights homeland), mostly ironically by persons who complain about a perceived violation of theses rights. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Departments (French: départements) are administrative units of France and many former French colonies, roughly analogous to English counties. ... The European Union or EU is a supranational and international organization of 27 member states. ... A charter member of the United Nations, France holds one of the permanent seats in the Security Council and is a member of most of its specialized and related agencies. ... The honour entrance to the Ministry building on the Quai dOrsay The Minister of Foreign Affairs, in the Government of France, is the cabinet member responsible for the Republics network of relationships with foreign nations. ... This is a list of major political scandals in France: 1816 shipwreck of and search for French frigate Medusa off the west coast of Africa Dreyfus Affair, 1894 treason conviction of Alfred Dreyfus - exposed by writer Emile Zola on January 13, 1898 The Ben Barka affair, 1965 disappearance of the... Information on politics by country is available for every country, including both de jure and de facto independent states, inhabited dependent territories, as well as areas of special sovereignty. ... Download high resolution version (2168x996, 382 KB)View of the Palais Bourbon (French National Assembly), front Copyright (c) 2003 David Monniaux File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Download high resolution version (2168x996, 382 KB)View of the Palais Bourbon (French National Assembly), front Copyright (c) 2003 David Monniaux File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... In government, bicameralism is the practice of having two legislative or parliamentary chambers. ... The Parlement of France is bicameral, and consists of the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) and the Senate (Sénat). ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... The Senate amphitheater in the Luxembourg Palace The Senate (in French :le Sénat) is the upper house of the Parliament of France. ...

The National Assembly consists of 577 members known as députés (deputies), each elected by a single-member constituency. Deputies are elected in each constituency through a two-rounds system. It is presided over by a president (currently Patrick Ollier), normally from the largest party represented, assisted by vice-presidents from across the represented political spectrum. The term of the National Assembly is five years; however, the President may dissolve the Assembly (by i.e.: calling for new elections), unless he dissolved it in the preceding twelve months. An example of runoff voting. ... Patrick Ollier (born 17 December 1944 in Périgueux, Dordogne) is a French MP, for the UMP party, the president of the National Assembly and the Mayor of Rueil-Malmaison. ...

The official seat of the National Assembly is the Palais Bourbon on the banks of the river Seine (48°51′43″N 2°19′07″E / 48.861899, 2.318605); the Assembly also uses other neighbouring buildings, including the Immeuble Chaban-Delmas on the rue de l’Université (48°51′39″N 2°18′57″E / 48.860799, 2.315902). It is guarded by Republican Guards; huissiers oversee the operations inside the meeting amphitheater and in other facilities. The Palais Bourbon, front The Palais Bourbon, a palace located in Paris, France, is the seat of the French National Assembly, the lower legislative chamber of the French government. ... The Seine (pronounced in French) is a major river of north-western France, and one of its commercial waterways. ... Two republican guards in ceremony uniform in front of a side entrance of the Élysée Palace The French Republican Guard (French: Garde républicaine) is the ceremonial unit of the Gendarmerie Nationale of France. ... The chain of a huissier in the French Senate. ...

Deputies, here Martine Billard (Greens) wears a tricolor scarf on official occasions outside of the Assembly, or in public marches

Following a tradition started by the first National Assembly during the French Revolution, the “left-wing” parties sit to the left as seen from the president’s seat, and the “right-wing” parties sit to the right, and the seating arrangement thus directly indicates the political spectrum as represented in the Assembly. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1556x1752, 1362 KB) Copyright © 2006 David Monniaux File links The following pages link to this file: DADVSI Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1556x1752, 1362 KB) Copyright © 2006 David Monniaux File links The following pages link to this file: DADVSI Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. ... Députée Martine Billard attending the protest of the 7th of May 2006 against the DADVSI law project. ... Flag Ratio: 2:3 The national flag of France (Vexillological symbol: , known in French as drapeau tricolore, drapeau bleu-blanc-rouge, drapeau français, rarely, le tricolore and, in military parlance, les couleurs) is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured blue (hoist side), white, and red. ... During the French Revolution, the National Assembly (French: Assemblée nationale) was a transitional body between the Estates-General and the National Constituent Assembly that existed from June 17 to July 9 of 1789. ... The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... In politics, left-wing, political left, leftism, or simply the left, are terms which refer (with no particular precision) to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of socialism, social democracy, or liberalism (especially in the American sense of the word), or with opposition... In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply the right, are terms which refer, with no particular precision, to the segment of the political spectrum in opposition to left-wing politics. ... Political parties Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      A political spectrum is a way of visualizing different political positions. ...

Relationships with the executive

The President of the Republic can decide to dissolve the National Assembly and call for new legislative elections. This is meant as a way to resolve stalemates where the Assembly cannot decide on a clear political direction. This possibility is seldom exercised. The last dissolution was by Jacques Chirac in 1997, following from the lack of popularity of prime minister Alain Juppé; however, the plan backfired, and the newly elected majority was opposed to Chirac. Jacques René Chirac (born 29 November 1932) is a French politician. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Alain Marie Juppé (born 15 August 1945) is Frances Minister of State, Minister of Ecology and Sustainable Development ; among other positions, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997. ...

The National Assembly can overthrow the executive government (that is, the Prime Minister and other ministers) by voting a motion of censure. For this reason, the prime minister and his cabinet are necessarily from the dominant party or coalition in the assembly. In the case of a president and assembly from opposing parties, this leads to the situation known as cohabitation. While motions of censure are periodically proposed by the opposition following government actions that it deems highly inappropriate, they are purely rhetorical; party discipline ensures that, throughout a parliamentary term, the government is never overthrown by the Assembly. Officially there has never been censure. The Government (the Prime Minister and the Minister of relationships with Parliament) sets the priority agenda for the Assembly’s sessions, except for a single day each month. In practice, given the number of priority items, it means that the schedule of the Assembly is almost entirely set by the executive; bills generally only have a chance to be examined if proposed or supported by the executive. A prime minister is the most senior minister of a cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. ... Cohabitation in government occurs in semi-presidential systems, such as Frances system, when the President and the Prime Minister come from different political parties. ...

Elections

Since 1986, the 577 deputies are elected by the direct universal suffrage with a two-round system by constituency, for a five-year mandate, subject to dissolution. The constituencies each comprise 100,000 inhabitants more or less. The electoral law of 1986 specifies that variations of population between constituencies should not, in any case, lead to a constituency exceeding more than 20% the average population of the constituencies of the département.^[1] However, there are inequalities between the less populated rural districts and the urban districts. For example, the deputy for the most populated constituency, Val-d'Oise, represents 188,000 voters, while the deputy for the least populated constituency, Lozere, accounts for only 34,000.^[2] Elections Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Universal suffrage (also general suffrage or common suffrage) consists of the extension of the right to vote to all adults, without distinction as to race, sex, belief, intelligence, or economic or social status. ... An example of runoff voting. ... A constituency is any cohesive corporate unit or body bound by shared structures, goals or loyalty. ... Departments (French: départements) are administrative units of France and many former French colonies, roughly analogous to English counties. ... Val-dOise is a French département named after the Oise River, located in the ÃŽle-de-France région. ... Lozère is a département in southeast France near the Massif Central. ...

To be elected in the first round of voting, a candidate must obtain at least 50% of the votes cast, with a turn-out of at least 25% of the registered voters on the electoral rolls. If no candidate is elected in the first round, those who poll in excess of 12.5% of the first-round vote are entered in the second round of voting. In the second round, it is the candidate who gains the most votes who is elected. Each candidate is enrolled along with a substitute, who takes the candidates place in the event of inability to represent the constituency, when the deputy becomes minister for example.

The organic law of 10 July 1985 established a system of party-list proportional representation within the framework of the département. It was necessary within this framework to obtain at least 5% of the vote to elect an official. However, the legislative election of 1986, carried out under this system, gave France a new majority which returned to the plurality voting system. There are 570 elected officials of the departments,^[3] five representatives of the overseas collectivities (two for French Polynesia, one for Wallis and Futuna, one for Saint Pierre and Miquelon and one for Mayotte) and two for New Caledonia since 1986. The Laws of Nature are claimed in the United States Declaration of Independence to be the work of the Creator of unalienable rights identified as Natures God. ... July 10 is the 191st day of the year (192nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar). ... Party-list proportional representation systems are a family of voting systems used in multiple-winner elections (e. ... The French legislative election took place on March 16, 1986 to elect the 8th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. ... An example of a plurality ballot. ... A collectivité doutre-mer (in English Overseas Community) or COM, is an administrative division of France. ...

Current membership

The last legislative elections, held in June 2007 resulted in the following distribution of seats: The French legislative elections took place on 10 June and 17 June 2007 to elect the 13th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, a few weeks after the French presidential election run-off on 6 May. ...

References

1. ^ Stéphane Mandard, « En 2005, un rapport préconisait le remodelage des circonscriptions avant les législatives de 2007 », Le Monde, 7 June 2007.
2. ^ Ibid.
3. ^ (French) Article LO119 of the Electoral Code

Le Monde is also the name of a song by the Thievery Corporation. ... June 7 is the 158th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (159th in leap years), with 207 days remaining. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

See also

• Politics of France
• National Assembly
• French Parliament
• French Congress
• List of Presidents of the French National Assembly
• Deputies of the 12th French National Assembly (2002-2007)
• Deputies of the 13th French National Assembly (2007-2012)

The Politics of France take place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of France is head of state and the Prime Minister of France head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      The National Assembly is either a legislature, or the lower house of a bicameral legislature in some countries. ... The Parlement of France is bicameral, and consists of the National Assembly (Assemblée Nationale) and the Senate (Sénat). ... The French Congress (French: ) is the name given to the body created when both houses of the present-day French Parliament – the French National Assembly and the French Senate – reunite at the Château of Versailles to vote on revisions to the French constitution. ... This page lists Presidents of the Lower Chamber (or only chamber, as the case may be) of the French parliament. ... List in alphabetical order of the deputies of the 12th French National Assembly (2002- present). ...

External link

• Official website