The presidential party and the fifth republic

Bibliographic Data

ID6407066
AuthorsAlistair Cole (0000-0002-9222-0523, Keele University, corresponding author)
Year1993
Volume16
Issue2
Pages49-66
Publication date1993-04-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueWest European Politics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0140-2382 • E-ISSN: 1743-9655
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01402389308424960
OpenAlexW2165614112
LanguageEN
Citations received14
References cited9

Until 1986 the prevailing interpretation of the French Fifth Republic was one of encroaching presidential domination; notwithstanding some welcome revisionism occasioned by 'cohabitation', presidentialism continues to permeate analysis of contemporary French politics. This article attempts a comparative assessment of the presidential party as it has functioned under the first four presidents of the French Fifth Republic: de Gaulle, Pompidou, Giscard d'Estaing and Mitterrand. It is contended that each presidential party has shared certain attributes, resulting from systemic influences in France's semi‐presidential system; while retaining distinct characteristics derived from its identity as a particular type of party, and from the experience of a varying political context. The opportunities and constraints faced by successful presidential parties outweigh in importance their dissimilarites, inherited from their experience of different models of party organisation and ideology. No presidential party that has fallen from grace has managed to survive unscathed, nor to recover its position of former influence

Cohabitation · Context (archaeology · Ideology · Interpretation (philosophy · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Presidential system · Sociology · European Political History Analysis · Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis · History · Law · Political and Social Issues

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