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List of political systems in France

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This is a chronological list of political systems in France, from Clovis (481 CE) to modern times. A series of different monarchies spanned 1300 years from the Early Middle Ages to the French Revolution in 1789. The Revolution was followed by five periods of republicanism alternating with periods of imperial monarchy and one bout with authoritarianism during the Second World War. The Fifth Republic began in 1958 and is the political system in France as of 2024.

Introduction

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A political system (French: système politique[a]), also known as a "form of government" [b][c] is a way of organizing a state. Some different political systems are: democracy, totalitarianism, authoritarianism, theocracy, feudalism, monarchism, republicanism, and various hybrid systems. Each of these may be further subdivided, for example: absolute monarchy, constitutional monarchy, and feudal monarchy, all of which have been present in France. Many of these forms of government were known in Classical antiquity, and pre-date the existence of France.

Classical French historiography [fr] usually regards Clovis I (r. 509–511) as the first king of France, however historians today consider that such a kingdom didn't begin until the establishment of West Francia in 843.[1][2] For the purposes of this article, all political systems from Clovis on are considered to be in scope.

Historical context

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Clovis, King of the Franks

The Franks were a group of Romanized Germanic dynasties within the collapsing Western Roman Empire, who eventually commanded the region between the rivers Loire and Rhine. Clovis I established a single kingdom uniting the core Frankish territories, and was crowned King of the Franks in 496. He and his descendants ruled the Merovingian dynasty until 751, when it was replaced by the Carolingians (751-843).

West Francia c. 843, after the treaty of Verdun

After the coronation of Charlemagne in 800, the Carolingian Empire (800–888) gradually came to be seen in the West as a continuation of the ancient Roman Empire. After the Treaty of Verdun in 843, the Kingdom of the Franks ("Francia") was divided into three separate kingdoms, merging into two: West Francia and East Francia. The latter became the Holy Roman Empire, and West Francia eventually became the core of the Kingdom of France, which was structured as a feudal monarchy and lasted for eight centuries (987–1792).

During the French Revolution, the last pre-revolutionary monarch, Louis XVI, was forced to accept the French Constitution of 1791, thus turning the absolute monarchy into a constitutional monarchy. This lasted a year, before the monarchy was abolished entirely in September 1792 and replaced by the First French Republic, marking the beginning of republicanism in France.

For roughly the next eighty years, there was an alternating series of empires, republics, and a kingdom, until the 1870 establishment of the Third Republic. From that point on, it was republics down to the present day, with the exception of the authoritarian Vichy regime during World War II. The Fifth Republic, established as a semi-presidential system in 1958, remains the political system in France as of now.

List

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Name Date Type constitution Parliament Form of government [fr]
Lower
house
Upper
house
Federal monarchy 481[d] to 1 Jun 987[e] Federal monarchy
(481–987)
Fundamental laws
(481–1575)
then
Fundamental laws
(1575–1789)
Legislative power belonged to the king and not to the parlements, which were courts. The king could call an Estates General to solicit advice (the last was in 1789). Ancien Régime
(481–1791)
Royal Council :
Council of State
(13th c.–1790)
separate from the
Conseil des affaires (later, Conseil d'en haut) (16th c.–1792)

Kingdom of France
(481–1792)
Feudal monarchy 1 Jun 98714 May 1610[f] Feudal monarchy
(987–1610)
Absolutism 14 May 161014 Sep 1791[g] Absolutism (1610–1791)
Articles of constitution of 1789 [fr] National Constituent Assembly (1789–1791)
Constitutional monarchy 14 Sep 179121 Sep 1792 Constitutional monarchy (1791–1792) Constitution of 1791 Legislative Assembly
(1791–1792)
Provisional Executive Concil [fr]
(Aug–Sep 1792)
First Republic 21 Sep 179218 May 1804 fr:Régime d'assemblée = ??
(1792–1795)
Constitution of 1793 National Convention
(1792–1795)
Provisional Executive Concil [fr]
(1792–1794)
French republic
(1792–1804)
General Defense Committee [fr]
(Jan – Apr 1793)
Committee of Public Safety
(1793–1795)
Commissioners of the CPS
(1794–1795)
strict separation of powers
(1795–1799)
Constitution of 1795 Council of Five Hundred (1795–1799) Council of Ancients (1795–1799) Directory
(1795–1799)
Consulate (1799–1802) Constitution of 1799 Legislative Body
(1799–1814)
Conservative Senate (1799–1814)
Consulate
Consulate|Consular Commission
11 Nov 179913 Dec 1799
Consulate|Consulat
13 Dec 17992 Aug 1802
First Consul
2 Aug 180218 May 1804
Authoritarianism (1802–1804) Constitution of 1802
First Empire 18 May 18044 Apr 1814 Imperial monarchy
(1804–1814)
Constitution of 1804 French Empire
(1804–1814)
First Restoration 6 Apr 181420 Mar 1815 Constitutional monarchy (1814–1815) Charter of 1814 Chamber of Deputies (1814–1815) Chamber of Peers (1814–1848) Kingdom of France
(1814–1815)
Hundred Days 20 Mar 18157 Jul 1815 Imperial monarchy
(Jun–Jul 1815)
Charter of 1815 Chamber of Representatives (Mar–Jul 1815) French Empire
(1815)
Second Restoration 8 Jul 18152 Aug 1830 Constitutional monarchy (1815–1830) restoration of the Charter of 1814 Chamber of Deputies (1815–1848) Kingdom of France
(1815–1848)
July Monarchy 9 Aug 183024 Feb 1848 Constitutional monarchy (1830–1848) Charter of 1830
Second Republic 24 Feb 18482 Dec 1852 no type no constitution Constituent Assembly of 1848 [fr] (1848–1849) French republic
(1848–1852)
Presidential system
(1849–1852)
Constitution of 1848 Legislative Assembly [fr]
(1849–1851)
Second Empire 2 Dec 18524 Sep 1870 Imperial monarchy
(1852–1870)
Constitution of 1852
then
sixteen amendments
Corps législatif (1852-1870) Senate (1852-1870) French Empire
(1852–1870)
Third Republic 4 Sep 187010 Jul 1940 Parliamentary republic
(1871–1875)
no constitution from 1870 to 1874 National Assembly (1871) (1875-1942) French republic
(1870–present)
Parliamentary system
(1875–1940)
Constitutional Laws of 1875
National Assembly (3rd Rep.) [fr] (1875-1942)
Chamber of Deputies (France) (1875-1942) Senate (1875-1942)
Free France 18 Jun 19403 Jun 1943 Resistance movement (1940–1943) Brazzaville Manifesto Vichy regime[h][neutrality is disputed]
(Unitary authoritarian dictatorship[citation needed])
(1940[i]–1944)
French Constitutional Law of 1940
Constitutional acts of the Vichy regime [fr]
French Committee of National Liberation 3 Jun 19433 Jun 1944 Ordonnance from 17 Sep 1943 Provisional Consultative Assembly (1943–1945)
Provisional Government of the French Republic 3 Jun 194427 Oct 1946 no type Ordinance of 9 August 1944 Constituent Assembly of 1945 [fr] (1945–1946) Sigmaringen enclave
(1944–1945)
no type Constitutional law of 2 November 1945 Constituent Assembly of 1946 [fr] (Jun–Nov 1946)
Fourth Republic 27 Oct 19464 Oct 1958 Parliamentary system
(1946–1958)
Constitution of 1946 National Assembly (1946-1958) Council of the Republic (1946-1958)
Fifth Republic from 4 Oct 1958 to present (As of 2022) Semi-presidential system
(1958–present)
Constitution of 1958
Congress (1958–present)
National Assembly (1958–present) Senate (1958–present)

Timeline diagram

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ In French, the term système politique has broader scope than the English term, and includes political regime, economic structure, and organization of society).
  2. ^ "Form of government" : (French: forme de gouvernement) is a synonym of "political system". In French, the meaning differs slightly, and a synonym for forme de gouvernement in French is régime politique.
  3. ^ The term political regime exists in English, but has taken on negative connations.
  4. ^ Upon the death of Childeric I, his son, Clovis I became king of the Franks, which was a federative monarchy.
  5. ^ Hugues Capet was elected king and founded the Capetian dynasty. The kingdom of the Franks became a feudal monarchy.
  6. ^ Assassination of Henri IV. End of the Renaissance, beginning of the absolute monarchy.
  7. ^ Louis XVI swore an oath to the constitution; beginning of constitutional monarchy in France.
  8. ^ The French State was never recognized by the two provisional consultative assemblies of the French Committee of National Liberation and the Provisional Government of the French Republic.
  9. ^ Vote of full powers to Philippe Pétain on July 10, 1940. On July 11, 1940, Pétain became head of the French State (the official name of the Vichy regime) in Vichy. The power given to Pétain to write and promulgate a constitution was never fulfilled.

References

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  1. ^ Malvin 1996, p. 241.
  2. ^ Sewell 1876, p. 48–49.

Works cited

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  • Malvin, Christian; Société de l'Ecole des chartes (1996). "La baptême de Clovis : heurs et malheurs d'un mythe fondateur de la France contemporaine, 1814-1914". In Guyotjeannin, Olivier (ed.). Clovis chez les historiens [Clovis according to the historians] (in French). Librairie Droz. ISBN 9782600055925. OCLC 36533794.
  • Sewell, Elizabeth Missing (1876). Popular History of France. Longman. OCLC 81375924.

Further reading

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