Who is the leader of France?

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

I probably should know this having lived in England for the first 28 years of my life, but who is the leader of France? Is it the president like the USA? Or is it the Prime Minister like the UK? I know the French booted their monarchy out a couple of hundred years ago and they've had heaps of republics since then but is the president just a figure head like the British Queen with no real power? And do the French regret not having a monarchy now?

Lyndas husand.... Richard

PS Can anyone sum up what the deal is with the French saying no the EU constitution? I don't even know what the constitution is, but will it change anything for the common man?

[Deimos]

With regard to the French “Non” vote I can only recount what I was told at a dinner party I was invited to the day after the vote (me being the only Brit there). I tried to avoid politics (as advised) but the previous day meant that nobody else wanted to.

My understanding is that there were several reasons for the “Non”.

These include:

1. A protest about the domestic situation (economy, unemployment, etc.)

2. A feeling the a European International Policy would be great until e.g. the UK decided to ignore it (as per the UN) and go off on its own course.

3. Feeling uncomfortable with the economic state of some of the new countries joining.

There were people present who had voted Yes and voted No (and one who votes Yes and meant No). However, one thing I was told was that it was not a vote against Europe by France and people were actually a bit worried that other countries might interpret it as such.

(These are not my opinions as I don’t understand French politics enough to have opinions on the subject, just those expressed to me by a few French people at a dinner party).

Regards

Ian

[Iceni]

"Or is it the Prime Minister like the UK?"

LHR

Not sure that Queen Brenda would agree with you on this !!

Yr post is unclear whether you mean Head of State or political leader - though as Chirac has the power to replace the PM then I guess he is both in France.

One of the problems about referenda and most other things in life is that you only get the right answer if you ask the right question. The French seem to have used a question on the EU to give the Cressey (sp?) salute to Chirac.

John

not

[Mr Coeur de Lion]

Oh boy, what's the difference between head of state and a political leader. Arn't they both essentially the same? Does the president get voted in like a pm does?

[Clarkkent]

 

The UK has separated the functions of Head of State and Head of Government and these roles are occupied by the monarch and the leader of the majority party in the House of Commons. This results in the monarch's position as national figurehead being untarnished by political matters. Some republics have adopted this model with the president being only a figurehead, the best known are Germany and Ireland.

The president of France, just like the president of the USA, is both Head of State and Head of Government - a situation known as Executive President. The current constitution of France requires that the President appoints a prime minister to manage the day-to-day administration of the state while the president remains the national figurehead and manages the direction of government. In theory this permits the president to appear to keep his head above political matters, but in practice the prime minister is little more than the president's gopher and fall guy. If you like, the president is in charge of strategy, the prime minister of tactics.

The French model gives the president great political power, but also the impression of having clean hands when things go wrong. Strangely, it assumes that the government will always be that of the president and following another of Black Jacques' miscalculations, when he was faced with a government of a different political hue, he found himself with a prime minister, Jospin, whom he could not treat as fall guy.

The French model also fails to produce real figureheads. Partially because of the French nation's belief in its own greatness and destiny, Jacques Chirac has to be seen to be in charge of government strategy - hence his dash to Germany yesterday to team up with another potentially lame duck - and hence his reactions to the recent referendum.

[letrangere]

And do the French regret not having a monarchy now?

Ah this is an interesting question.  I would imagine the vast majority would say, absolutely not (though they love ours). However, some Paris friends of ours hobnob with the Duc d'Orleans, whom they boast is the pretender to the French throne.  (Is he?  I've never checked.)  As you can tell by the people they court, this couple would love to see a return of the monarchy in France but I must say they're the only people I've ever met who do.

By the way, we don't shy away from politics as a subject, it's impossible to anyway with most of our French friends.  But we do try to remain impartial and objective, ie sit on the fence and just listen. 

M