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The article analyzes French President Emmanuel Macron's unexpected dissolution of the National Assembly following disappointing European Parliament election results, highlighting the resulting political fragmentation in France and the evolving dynamics of the Fifth Republic.

Emmanuel Macron’s electoral victory and the rise of his political subject La République en Marche, led to significant changes at the level of French party politics in recent decades. This new political entity has taken the dominant position of the presidential majority, implying the disintegration of the bipolar “cartel” of the Socialist Party and the Republicans in the National Assembly. In addition to the fundamental recalculation of power relations through the election outcomes, it has resulted in a major reversal at the level of the classical party forces – left and right block, so that the structure criteria of the former party system were significantly violated. In this paper, we provide a more analytical view of which poles formed the party system of the 5th French Republic. We argue that the typical bipolar configuration in the form of the dominant left and right polarity has not existed from the first moment. We carry out a reconstruction of the main poles of the French party system through seat distribution by the individual political groups in the legislature. The key argument of our article is that the structural impact of the Macronist party’s electoral success has led to one of the most significant transformations of the party system’s polarity: the return of the political centre as the dominant pole and the shift from bipolarity to tripolarity. Regarding the sustainability of the new party reconfiguration, we conclude with several scenarios of further development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systemic Conditions of Functioning of Political Parties in France and Their Consequences for the Political Scenario he aim of the article is to discuss the framework of the semi-presidential system of government, which directly or indirectly affects the functioning of political parties and the format of the French party system. These factors include a strong and active presidency, the hierarchical dualism of executive power, the institution of referendum, the majority electoral law and the weak systemic position of the parliament. The author points out that although the entry into force of the Constitution of the Fifth French Republic in 1958 significantly reshaped the position and role of political parties, institutional factors were not conducive for their functioning. Political parties reacted with active political strategies and managed to consolidate their systemic position, and voter behaviour confirmed that deep-rooted political cleavages are still important in the contemporary political scenario.

The Exposition internationale du Surréalisme, or EROS, which took place in Paris between December 1959 and February 1960, was focused on the origins of art in the erotic drives, and was oriented implicitly to its contemporary moment in regard to the censorship of political and sexual material in the Fifth Republic. The exhibition is examined in relation to issues of hybridity, encounter, ritual, and the destabilization of identities, using Nora Mitrani's definition of scandal as a mixing of categories. Robert Rauschenberg's and Jasper Johns's works in the exhibition are discussed in light of these issues, as is a photograph by William Klein of the surrealist group in the precincts of the exhibition, for the French edition of Vogue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

France's 1968–72 intervention in Chad constitutes a forgotten turning point in the Fifth Republic's foreign relations. Interconnected institutions and treaties gave France a disproportionate influence over its African ex-colonies. French security guarantees underscored this system, however, whereby francophone African leaders continued to accept French economic and political leadership. French leaders discovered in Chad, however, that they had fewer choices and needed to dedicate more resources to fulfilling these commitments than President Charles de Gaulle had intended. Prosperous ex-colonies' leaders judged French commitments' value according to how France responded to crises in its least-valued ex-colonies. Thus, although French analysts viewed intervening in Chad as irrational from a cost–benefit perspective, they found themselves pressured into it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the article is to discuss the framework of the semi-presidential system of government, which directly or indirectly affects the functioning of political parties and the format of the French party system. These factors include a strong and active presidency, the hierarchical dualism of executive power, the institution of referendum, the majority electoral law and the weak systemic position of the parliament. The author points out that although the entry into force of the Constitution of the Fifth French Republic in 1958 significantly reshaped the position and role of political parties, institutional factors were not conducive for their functioning. Political parties reacted with active political strategies and managed to consolidate their systemic position, and voter behaviour confirmed that deep-rooted political cleavages are still important in the contemporary political scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What are the electoral impacts of perceptions of unemployment under different partisan persuasions of the government? Neither the literature on retrospective economic voting nor partisan voting has provided a compelling answer to this question. This paper addresses this puzzle by analyzing panel surveys and leveraging differences in government partisanship in two consecutive elections. I argue that negative evaluations of the employment situation induce voter transition to support a left-wing party under a right-wing government, but that such voter perceptions do not affect vote choice under a left-wing government. An analysis of a voter transition, using British Election Panel Study 1992–1997 and 1997–2001, reveals findings that support my argument. My argument suggests conditional partisan voting effects. Essentially, the effect of economic issues on vote choice is conditional on issue salience and which party "owns" the issue, namely, the varying levels of issue salience related to government partisanship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the Algerian War, Nafissa Sid Cara came to public prominence in two roles. As a secretary of state, Sid Cara oversaw the reform of Muslim marriage and divorce laws pursued by Charles de Gaulle's administration as part of its integration campaign to unite France and Algeria. As president of the Mouvement de solidarité féminine, she sought to "emancipate" Algerian women so they could enjoy the rights France offered. Though the politics of the Algerian War circumscribed both roles, Sid Cara's work with Algerian women did not remain limited by colonial rule. As Algeria approached independence, Sid Cara rearticulated the language of women's rights as an apolitical and universal good, regardless of the future of the French colonial state, though she-and the language of women's rights- remained bound to the former metropole. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the parliamentary responsibility of the government under the Constitution of the French Fifth Republic of 1958 (with special regard to a vote of no confidence). Looking at this issue from a contemporary perspective, the author argues that in comparison to the so-called monistic version of parliamentarianism, this type of political responsibility of the executive has been doubly weakened. First of all, the mere rationalisation of a parliamentary system itself occurring at the constitutional level has contributed to such an effect. Strengthening the government at the expense of the legislative is of prime importance in this regard. Another factor which weakens the position of the legislature is far-reaching reinforcement of the French presidency, which corresponds to the process of presidentialisation of politics. This has led to the creation (outside the provisions of the 1958 Constitution) of an additional dimension of the government's responsibility, that is the responsibility before the head of state. The author claims that in such circumstances, a vote of no confidence may be paradoxically perceived not so much as a mechanism that links the French system of government with a parliamentary model, but as one of the factors supporting the so-called majoritarian presidentialism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article compares the transitions between the Fourth and Fifth French Republics and between the so-called Italian "First" and "Second" Republics. After considering changes in the international context, in the party system, in electoral laws and decentralization processes, the author reaches the conclusion that the Second Republic doesn't exist as yet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the political and institutional changes that France lived from Second World War till today. Reflecting on the most recent historiography, this essay tries to underline some neglected elements of continuity between Fourth and Fifth Republic. Secondly it tries to indicate the right hiatus in the period 1962-1967. 1969 and 1974 obtain enough consideration. Without ignoring the importance of 1981, the article focuses on the evolution that drives from the so called "Centrist Republic" to the crisis of the Fifth Republic model during Sarkozy and Hollande's mandates. Unknowns of Macron's moment dominate the last part of the article. The evolution of his mandate could enhance the Fifth Republic or on the contrary lead it to radical changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay is an examination of one of the first instances of a public intellectual engagement with the phenomenon of neoliberalism in France: the conference on the nouvel ordre intérieur ("new internal order") held at the University of Vincennes in March 1979. Though the conference had little immediate impact, its participants were prescient in recognizing and analyzing the demise of postwar social arrangements and the onset of a new political and economic paradigm. The essay examines the conference's broader context: the 1973 economic crisis and the policies it triggered, anxiety about the Trilateral Commission's report on democracy, the pushback against the anti-Marxist politics of the nouveaux philosophes, and the controversy surrounding the future of the experimental University of Vincennes. The essay then considers the analyses of some of the conference's key participants (including Noam Chomsky, Michel Foucault, and Henri Lefebvre), as well as the tensions that emerged in their efforts to conceptualize what they called neoliberalism's "soft way" (i.e., its combination of capitalist hegemony and social and cultural liberalism). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the extraordinary rise of Emmanuel Macron and the near complete collapse of the Parti Socialiste (PS), the past year has seen arguably the most dramatic upheaval in the French party system since 1958. This article develops a political economy analysis of the Hollandequinquennatto better understand how we arrived here. It argues that Hollande’s programmatic failures must be situated within an institutional account of the constraints of the presidential logic of the Fifth Republic and tensions between competing factionalcourantswithin the Socialist Party. Here we shed fresh light on this moment of rupture by situating a political economy analysis of Hollande’s economic programme within a more intricate institutional analysis of the specificities of the PS and its position within the Fifth Republic. The article traces the most salient political developments of the 2017 elections and outlines the political landscape of the contemporary French left. These factors explain why, after numerous crises of French socialism, this time is different. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The 2017 French presidential campaign was in many respects very different from all of its predecessors in the Fifth Republic. The same might also be said of the parliamentary contest that followed a few weeks later. Both elections were characterised by two complementary features – le dégagisme and le renouvellement – that together contributed to the sense that in 2017 French politics underwent a radical transformation, including a major shake-up of the party system and a significant renewal of the political class in both the executive and the legislature. In this vein the article analyses key features of both campaigns, selectively using comparator reference points from previous Fifth Republic elections where appropriate. In contrast, in the concluding section on the early weeks of the Emmanuel Macron presidency, the article highlights important elements of continuity with previous presidencies in terms of leadership style and policy initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of the political activism of black African diasporas in France after the independence era remains a neglected area of research. This paper fills a gap in the literature by exploring the first notable postcolonial protests in the country by sub-Saharan migrants. The struggle of black African workers against their dire housing conditions opened up a ‘cycle of collective action’ that led to the better-known Sonacotra migrant hostels (foyers) rent strike of 1975–1980. Even before the Sonacotra strike, however, black African workers had been able to call on the authorities from both their origin and residence countries and to mobilize transnational networks in order to support their demands. This article provides the first comprehensive historical study of this decisive period. It highlights how ethnic ties are intertwined with political and social ones, focusing on the solidarities that these migrants developed in political networks and in their neighbourhoods. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents a history of French terrorism in the Pacific in the 1980s. It says that the attack on the Greenpeace environmental flagship, Rainbow Warrior, on 10 July 1985 was part of a Pacific-wide strategy to eliminate pro-independence and nuclear-free movements in New Caledonia and French Polynesia, and also in the then freshly independent Vanuatu, during the 1980s.

This short contribution focuses on the reception and use of the concept of the semi-presidentialism in France. The constant lack of interest among the French scientific community in this form of political regime, which was invented by a French scholar, Maurice Duverger, raises intriguing questions since it is has been recognized as a valuable contribution to research in the English-speaking world. Three main reasons are suggested here: an exclusive interest in the nature of the Fifth Republic, the specific structure of the French scientific field, and Duverger's scientific and political trajectory which gave rise and continues to give rise to controversies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This Article examines Liberté pour l'Histoire, a group of French historians who led the charge against that nation's memory laws and, in the process, raised unique arguments not found elsewhere in the debate over hate speech regulation. Some of these arguments--such as a focus on how the constitutional structure of the Fifth Republic encouraged memory laws-advance our understanding of the connection between hate speech bans and political institutions. Other arguments, however, are more problematic. In particular, Liberté historians struggle to distinguish the Holocaust (which is illegal to deny) from the Armenian Genocide (which is not). The Liberté historians are also hostile toward multiculturalism. While this reflects the French culture in which the historians operate, it is normatively unappealing. This is especially true given the existence of other, more inclusive European arguments against hate speech regulation, such as those of Danish cartoon publisher Flemming Rose and Maltese Judge Giovanni Bonello. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revus: Journal for Constitutional Theory & Philosophy of Law is the property of Revus - European Constitutionality Review and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

An editorial is presented which discusses about France being insurgent, rise on fuel taxes, fluid, leaderless movement, Macron and the Fifth Republic facing crisis of legitimacy and authority and coalition of Gilets Jaunes. It talks about Global Financial Crisis, governing system of technocratic and financialized neoliberalism, wealth inequality, crises of social reproduction, solutions to the urban problems and social and economic crisis.

Copyright of Education et Societes is the property of INRP and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The interpretation by Italian scholars of the institutions of the French Fifth Republic was directly linked not only to the new French constitution and to the evolving practice of power in France, but also to the scholars' own judgement on the Italian constitution and on their changing perception of the role of the political parties within Italian republican institutions. Three main phases in the development of the interpretation of the Fifth Republic by Italian jurists and political scientists can be identified. During the first – extending from 1958 to the late 1970s – it was strongly criticized by most as anti-democratic. The second phase – from the late 1970s to the early 1990s – was marked by the end of anti-democratic suspicions; but only during the 1990s – the third phase – were the Fifth Republic's institutions proposed by some scholars as a model to be imported in to Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An essay is presented on France's role as the gendarme (police) of Africa between 1960 and 2014, and it mentions the independence, various French colonies such as French Equatorial Africa and French West Africa, and the French government's policy towards Africa. The French government's efforts to maintain political, cultural, and military relations with its former colonies in Africa are mentioned, along with France's ability to obtain a seat on the United Nations Security Council in 1945. France's influence over Francophone Africa is examined, as well as the role of the Forces Françaises Libres (Free French Forces) during World War II.

The article presents a report on a panel on the history of France and Great Britain in the 1970s, convened during the Historikertag, the annual congress of the Verband der Historiker und Historikerinnen Deutschlands (VHD) and Verband der Geschichtslehrer Deutschlands (VGD) professional associations in Göttingen, Germany, from September 23-26, 2014. Topics discussed included French economic historiography and the concept of the "trentes glorieuses" (glorious thirty years) developed by social scientist Jean Fourastié, British coal miners, and care for the aged in Britain.

'French studies' were much easier to do thirty years ago when French Politics, Culture & Society was founded. France then seemed, and largely was, synonymous with Paris, which appeared knowable. It also seemed possible to scan French intellectual and cultural life across disciplines, in part because the Parisian French media loudly announced where the action was. French politics also looked distinctive internationally and French leaders projected themselves around the planet. It was understandable that FPC&S would have holistic goals and attempt to cover as much of what was happening as possible while eagerly embracing inter-disciplinarity. Since then there have been massive changes, however. France's intellectual, cultural, social, and political biographies have been decentralized, Europeanized, globalized, and internationalized. French academic disciplines, like those in other countries, have been subdivided, often in difficult-to-follow ways. France itself, in the 1980s a formerly colonial great power that still spoke stridently in world affairs, is now a medium-sized member of the EU under very great economic and social strains. It is vastly harder to do holistic 'French studies' now. All the more reason to try! [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the French political, economic, and military presence in Africa during the Fifth Republic and the concept of Françafrique. It examines the return to power of French president Charles de Gaulle in 1958, the concept of decolonization, events in several French colonies such as Algeria, Gabon, and Cameroon, and efforts by de Gaulle to preserve French interests in Africa during the Cold War. The article also discusses the significance of French government official Jacques Foccart in African affairs.

The essay is a detailed cinematic and cultural analysis of Ça commence aujourd'hui by Bertrand Tavernier (1999), Être et Avoir by Nicolas Philibert (2003) and Entre les Murs by Laurent Cantet (2008). It contrasts the cinematic depictions of three French schools in rural, urban, and suburban France. Through a comparison of locations, pedagogy, and student expectation, the essay shows a contrasted and diffracted vision of the French educational system portrayed in the films. In the context of school reforms debated in France, the essay points out the variety and complexity of different schools visualized through the cinematic lens, and it questions the French Republic's ability to successfully fulfill its mission to educate young citizens of various social, racial, and cultural backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Semi-presidentialism" is a "made in Europe" concept which starts by describing the specific constitutional architecture of the French Fifth Republic, in which a directly elected President has significant powers, while the government is politically responsible in front of Parliament. However, other semi-presidential systems of government existed long before, and others were established long after the birth of the French Fifth Republic. My assumption is that semi-presidentialism is a sui generis institutional arrangement whose roots and tenability reach further and deeper than the French constitutional experience. In this study, I shall focus on two main topics. First, I shall analyze the concept of semi-presidentialism and the reasons for several European countries having chosen such a system of government to the detriment of presidentialism or parliamentarism. Following the Aristotelian dictum regarding the distinction between the best political regime in theory and the best possible political regime in practice, I shall categorize the European models of semi-presidentialism according to different criteria, such as a directly elected President's degree of political and institutional activism or the relationship between parliamentary majorities and the representatives of the executive branch (President and Government). Second, from normative and empirical perspectives, I shall focus on the specifics of Romanian semi-presidentialism. The last 24 years of democratic experience have generated a rich institutional practice characterized by the significant influence of the executive over the legislative, and the significant exercise of political power by Romanian Presidents. My main challenge is to prove that this institutional practice has disregarded the initial aim of the Romanian constitutional legislator, which was to regulate a mild semi-presidential system of government in which Parliament would be the anima of the whole institutional machinery. Thus, the Romanian semi-presidential model is more the result of executive leaders' vivid institutional practices and political ambitions than of rigid constitutional prescriptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Romanian Journal of Comparative Law / Revista Romana de Drept Comparat is the property of Universul Juridic Publishing House and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article looks at representations of masculinities in British and French youth magazines during the 1960s. Particular focus is given to the magazines "Salut les copains" (SLC), Fabulous/Fabulous," and "Rave". According to the author, these magazines represented new developments in masculinity ideals along with more traditional models, and incorporated elements of both heterosexual and homosexual culture. Details on the archetype of the "jeune cadre," or young executive, are presented.

It has been demonstrated that in most countries electoral behaviour follows a pattern of nationalization, that is, national politics substitute local politics. Most research (both comparative and single case study) analyses the phenomenon of nationalization and its strength by focusing on a single type of election: the legislative/parliamentary election. When dealing with comparative research, this implies that the electoral offer and the context differ from one country area to another or within one country. The original contribution of this article is that it offers both a new methodological and substantive perspective. From a methodological point of view, we propose a quasi-experimental design. Nationalization will be measured for two types of elections (presidential and legislative), in the same country (France), at the same territorial level (departments), for a long span of time (the Fifth Republic), covering 9 presidential and 14 legislative elections. For this analysis, the nationalization of the electoral behaviours will be calculated by employing first the standard deviation, the Mean of Absolute Deviation and then the Bochsler index (2010). The Bochsler index allows us to measure nationalization at the country level, and is not sensitive to the size and the number of parties. Therefore, the Bochsler index is the best instrument when dealing with a comparative or a longitudinal design. From a substantive point of view, this article aims to demonstrate that the degree of nationalization depends on the type of election. In our case, which is a semi-presidential system, we expect to observe a higher degree of nationalization in presidential elections compared with legislative elections. In fact, with regard to legislative elections the local dimension of the vote (department level) should lead to a higher fragmentation of electoral behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes legislative voting in the French National Assembly during the Fifth Republic. We use an original data set of roll-call votes to understand the development of party voting unity from the Ist to the XIIIth Legislature (1958-2012). We also include a spatial analysis of legislative voting to measure the dimensionality of politics in the legislature. Our results show that party unity is very high in the National Assembly and that the policy space in the legislature is primarily one-dimensional. However, we note that party unity is weaker under certain circumstances, particularly when voting is related to foreign policy issues and the European Union, or when the government is composed of an ideologically diverse coalition of parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Performance is an integral and indispensable part of elite political behaviour in advanced democratic societies. This article analyses, explains and evaluates the practice of performance in presidential politics in contemporary France, examining how, why and to what effect presidents and ‘présidentiables’ perform in the mediated public sphere. It focuses particularly on the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy and the campaign performance of the two leading candidates in the 2012 presidential election, Sarkozy and François Hollande. The article uses different data – including election results, opinion poll ratings and electoral panel studies – to support its analysis and evaluation of the particular forms of performance generated by the shifting conditions of the political communication landscape in France. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Pouvoirs is the property of Editions du Seuil and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)