French Government Research Paper

This article is about the political and administrative structures of the French government. For French political parties and tendencies, see Politics of France.
For a history of how the current constitution was enacted, see French Fifth Republic.
Logo of the French government | | | |
The government of the French Democracy is a semi-presidential system determined by the French Constitution of the fifth Republic. The nation declares itself to be an "indivisible, secular, democratic, and social[clarification needed] Republic". The constitution provides for a separation of powers and proclaims France's "attachment to the Rights of Man and the principles of national sovereignty as defined by the Declaration of 1789."
The national
government of France is divided into an executive, a legislative and a judicial branch. The President shares executive power with his appointee, the Prime Minister. The cabinet globally, including the Prime Minister, can be revoked by the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, through a "censure motion"; this ensures that the Prime Minister is always supported by a majority of the houses.
Parliament comprises the National Assembly and the Senate. It passes statutes and votes on the budget; it controls the action of the executive through formal questioning on the floor of the houses of Parliament and by establishing commissions of enquiry. The constitutionality of the statutes is checked by the Constitutional Council, members of which are appointed by the President of the Republic, the President of the National Assembly, and the President of the Senate. Former Presidents of the Republic also are members of the Council.
The independent judiciary is based on a civil law system which evolved from the Napoleonic codes. It is divided into the judicial branch (dealing with civil law and criminal law) and the administrative branch (dealing with appeals against executive decisions), each with their own independent supreme court of appeal: the Court of Cassation for the judicial courts and the Conseil d'Etat for the administrative courts. The French government includes various bodies that check abuses of power and independent agencies.
France is a unitary state. However, the administrative subdivisions—the régions, départements and communes—have various legal functions, and the national government is prohibited from intruding into their normal operations.
France was a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community, later the European Union. As such, France has transferred part of its sovereignty to European institutions, as provided by its constitution. The French government therefore has to abide by European treaties, directives and regulations
United States: three branches
Main article: Separation of powers under the United States Constitution
In the United States Constitution, Article 1 Section I gives Congress only those "legislative powers herein granted" and proceeds to list those permissible actions in Article I Section 8, while Section 9 lists actions that are prohibited for Congress.
The vesting clause in Article II places no limits on the Executive branch, simply stating that, "The Executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America."[6] The Supreme Court holds "The judicial Power" according to Article III, and it established the implication of Judicial review in Marbury vs Madison.[7] The federal government refers to the branches as "branches of government", while some systems use "government" to describe the executive. The Executive branch has attempted to claim power arguing for separation of powers to include being the Commander in Chief of a standing army since the Civil war, executive orders, emergency powers and security classifications since WWII, national security, signing statements, and the scope of the unitary
executive.
[edit] Checks and balances
To prevent one branch from becoming supreme, protect the "opulent minority" from the majority,and to induce the branches to cooperate, governance systems that employ a separation of powers need a way to balance each of the branches. Typically this was accomplished through a system of "checks and balances", the origin of which, like separation of powers itself, is specifically credited to Montesquieu. Checks and balances allow for a system based regulation that allows one branch to limit another, such as the power of Congress to alter the composition and jurisdiction of the federal courts Legislative (Congress) | Executive (President) | Judicial (Supreme Court) | * Passes bills; has broad taxing and spending power; controls the federal budget; has power to borrow money on the credit of the United States (may be vetoed by President, but vetoes may be overridden with a two-thirds vote of both houses) * Has sole power to declare war.
* Oversees, investigates, and makes the rules for the government and its officers. * Defines by law the jurisdiction of the federal judiciary in cases not specified by the Constitution * Ratification of treaties signed by the President and gives advice and consent to presidential appointments to the federal judiciary, federal executive departments, and other posts (Senate only) * Has sole power of impeachment (House of Representatives) and trial of impeachments (Senate); can remove federal executive and judicial officers from office for high crimes and misdemeanors | * Has all the Executive Power * Is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces * Preserves, protects and defends the Constitution. * Faithfully executes the laws of the Country. * Executes the instructions of Congress. * May veto bills passed by Congress (but the veto may be overridden by a two-thirds majority of both houses * Executes the spending authorized by Congress. * Executes the instructions of Congress when it declares war or makes rules for the military. * Declares states of emergency and publishes regulations and executive orders. * Makes executive agreements (does not require ratification) and signs
treaties (ratification requiring by two-thirds of the Senate) * Makes appointments to the federal judiciary, federal executive departments, and other posts with the advice and consent of the Senate. Has power to make temporary appointment during the recess of the Senate * Has the power to Grant "Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment." | * Determines which laws Congress intended to apply to any given case * Exercises judicial review, reviewing the constitutionality of laws * Determines how Congress meant the law to apply to disputes * Determines how a law acts to determine the disposition of prisoners * Determines how a law acts to compel testimony and the production of evidence * Determines how laws should be interpreted to assure uniform policies in a top-down fashion via the appeals process, but gives discretion in individual cases to low-level judges. (The amount of discretion depends upon the standard of review, determined by the type of case in question.) * Federal judges serve for life |