Constitutional Paralysis, the French Left, and the Fifth Republic

Abstract

The problem to be addressed in this paper is the constitutional paralysis present in the French Fifth Republic. Constitutional paralysis is defined here as the lack of consensus among nearly all major groups concerning society's basic structural and institutional composition. In most western industrial nations, political activities take place within a given constitutional framework. One would hardly expect the average British Labourite to advocate abandoning his nation's constitution, nor is one likely to hear an American Democrat advocate a new Constitutional Convention. France, however, has not been blessed with such consensus. Traditionally, political battles have been fought without any of the constitutional consensus enjoyed by such countries as the United Kingdom and the United States. Constitutional issues have, historically speaking, always pervaded the French political scene, as the Boulanger and Dreyfuss affairs demonstrate. Because of this paralysis, the French have had a high turnover rate in regimes; in this century alone, a they have had three republics and the Vichy government. Constitutional paralysis has been an integral part of France's political landscape. [From Introduction]