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CURRENT ISSUES AND TRENDS

The executive branch of the French government also includes a prime minister and cabinet. According to the Constitution of 1958, the Prime Minister "shall direct the operation of the government", and the government "shall determine and direct the policy of the Nation." Until 1986 the prime minister and the cabinet operated to provide the direction or resources necessary to implement the policies conceived by the chief of state, the president. One of the many functions of the prime minister was the harnessing of a parliamentary majority for presidential policies since a majority in parliament may censure or reject a governmental program, forcing the resignation of the government (the cabinet).

From 1958 until 1986, the prime minister was of the same political party as the president. In 1986, parliamentary elections tilted the balance of power in the National Assembly to the right, although the presidency was held by the socialist, Francois Mitterrand. To ensure the support of parliament, Mitterrand selected a prime minister from the right, Jacques Chirac of the RPR. This situation, when the president is from one political party and the prime minister is from another, is called cohabitation. It was widely predicted that such a situation would lead to the downfall of the government, and the demise of the Fifth Republic was expected. However, that did not happen, and in 1988, Mitterrand was reelected, called new parliamentary elections that the left won, and he appointed a socialist prime minister, restoring the old superpresidential system. Cohabitation occurred again in 1993, when the rightist parties won a majority in parliament. Mitterrand again selected a prime minister from the right, and when presidential elections occurred again in 1995, a rightist candidate, Jacques Chirac, won the presidency. A mini-swing effect seemed to be occurring when parliament went left again in the 1997 elections and Chirac chose Socialist Lionel Jospin as his prime minister. Elections of 2002 again eliminated cohabitation when voters selected both a president (Chirac) and a parliament from the right.

Under cohabitation Prime Ministers Chirac, Balladur, and Jospin pursued their own legislative agendas. Knowing that they had support from the National Assembly, they dared to contradict the will of the president. However, in all cases, their power lasted only until the next election, since the National Assembly has the power to censure (remove) the prime minister and cabinet. All three resigned instead of facing censure.

Ministers are chosen by the prime minister. The ministers that make up the cabinet may come from the National Assembly, the bureaucracy, or from outside the government, particularly from the business world. They head complex ministries that often combine diverse areas. Any deputy (elected representative from the National Assembly) must resign his or her seat if selected as a minister, so the fusion between legislative and executive branches found in parliamentary systems does not exist. Ministers change with the political tide, but their bureaucracies change very little.

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