French Government Essay, Research Paper

The modern French government is run very much like the government of the

United States. France is a democratic republic that is divided into three branches,

the Executive branch, the Legislative branch, and the Judicial branch.

The Legislative branch is made up of the Parliament, which like the United

States Congress, is divided into two houses. Those being the Senate and the

National Assembly. The National Assembly has 577 members and is the more

powerful of the two houses, while the Senate has 319 members in this somewhat

less influential house. This branch is in charge of passing and repealing laws.

The Judicial branch is in charge of the courts, and criminal trials.

As in the United States there is the Executive branch, which is headed by

the President and Prime Minister. This branch is in charge of carrying out laws and

bills passed by the parliament.

The French government is quite unique, in that during times of a national

emergency, such as a war, the President of France has the authority to assume

almost complete power.

The Local government is divided into twenty-two regions, that are further

divided into ninety-five departements, which are again divided into smaller

arrondissements which are then divided into communes. There are approximately

36,500 communes in France. The communes are run by mayors appointed by local

municipal councils.

An interesting fact about the French government, is that we get the

expressionsof a left-wing party and a right-wing party from the French Revolution,

because at the National Assembly, the radicals would sit on the left, and the

conservatives on the right.