SOCIETY AND POLITICS

CITIZEN AND STATE

POLITICAL FRAMEWORK

POLITICAL PARTIES

ELECTIONS

INTEREST GROUPS

INSTITUTIONS

The framework of the French political system was changed dramatically by the 1958 constitution that created the Fifth Republic. Many observers at the time did not hold out much hope for the success of the new regime. However, over time the country has stabilized, and it appears as if the current framework has cured at least some of the political problems that plagued France during all of the previous republics. The system is a hybrid presidential-parliamentary one that has both a president and a prime minister. The combination of characteristics has created a complicated government structure that strikes many as unwieldy, but the Fifth Republic has survived multiple challenges, and has at least tempered the unpredictability and instability of the historical "swing effect."