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"Assemblée Nationale"
as on 17 June, 2007
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Union for Popular Movement (UMP) |
313 |
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Total number |
577 |
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The Senate as in November 2007
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Union for Popular Movement (UMP) |
155 |
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Total number |
326 |
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Political System
France is a presidential republic.
Head of State
The Head of State is President Nicolas Sarkozy (since May 2007).
The President is elected for a five-year term by direct popular vote. He has the power to bypass parliament on certain issues, ratify international treaties, appoint the Prime Minister and he presides over the weekly Council of Ministers. The President also appoints and dismisses other members of the government on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.
Amending the constitution is the President's responsibility. This is done following a proposal from the Prime Minister to the Members of the Parliament. The draft, or the proposal for revision, must be voted on by both Chambers on identical terms. The revision is final after having been approved by a referendum.
Prime Minister
François Fillon has been Prime Minister since 18 May 2007
Legislature
Legislative power is exercised by Parliament, which consists of two chambers, the Upper House or First Chamber (Sénat), and the Lower House or Second Chamber (Assemblée Nationale). The Second Chamber is politically more important.
The First Chamber is made up of 322 members who are indirectly elected for nine years by an electoral board, consisting of representatives of the Second Chamber, the General Council and local councils.
Senators are divided into groups according to their political affiliation. A group must be composed of at least 15 members. A Senator may be a member of a group, allied to that group, or simply attached to it for administrative purposes.
The second chamber (Assemblée Nationale) consists of 577 deputies elected for five years. The life of the Assembly may be shortened if it is dissolved by the President of the Republic under article 12 of the Constitution.
The National Assembly has two main functions : to adopt statutes and to supervise the Government.
Its members do this as provided by the Constitution, and more specifically by the Ordinance of 17 November 1958 on the functioning of the parliamentary assemblies, and by the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly itself.
New laws come into effect only after both chambers have reached agreement. When no agreement is reached, the Second Chamber has the final say.
The Parliament is responsible for the government. In practice however, the government has a virtual monopoly in putting forward legislation. As time is limited for Parliament to meet, there is little scope for private members' bills.
Besides the central government in Paris, France is divided into 21 regions, each with a directly elected Regional Council (Conseil Régional), 95 Départements (the largest constituencies), each with a directly elected general council (Conseil Général) and 324 Arrondissements.
 Government of François Fillon
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Political System
