The Crisis of Politics and Government in France

The French elections of June 1951 and the serious difficulties experienced by the victorious constitutional parties in the formation of a government call attention once more to the problems of a parliamentary system in a multiparty state, and underline the urgency of a redefinition of the roles of parties and government within a constitutional democracy. These developments also draw attention to the basic constitutional problems which affect the political stability of France, and thereby weaken the Western community. With an occasional glance at parallel Italian developments, this article will first analyze the new electoral law and the election returns before proceeding to a discussion of the constitutional issues that contribute to the deepening crisis of the Fourth Republic

Democracy · General election · Government (linguistics · Law and economics · Political economy · Political science · Political stability · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · The Republic · Communism, Protests, Social Movements · European Political History Analysis · French Historical and Cultural Studies · Law · Public Administration