France v Germany

► FRANCE ► Pop: 59.8 million ► Political system: unitary republic, semipresidential system ► Executive: dual – president, PM ► Legislature: Bicameral (Senate & National Assembly) ► Judiciary: Constitutional Council (9 member) ► GERMANY ► Pop: 82.4 million ► Political system: parliamentary democracy (16 federal states) ► Executive: chancellor is head of government, ceremonial president head of state ► Legislature: Bicameral Bundestag – lower house and Bundesrat – upper house

France – regime history ► Ancien regime (Bourbon monarchy) before 1789 ► French Revolution 1789  Different revolutionary regimes until 1799  First Republic in 1792 was first modern European regime based on concept that all citizens, regardless of social background, were equal before law ► Consulate & First Empire – Napoleon –  Napoleonic Code of Law – detailed legal framework ► Restoration (of monarchy) ► July Monarchy – – Louis Philippe ► Second Republic –

► Second Empire (Louis Napoleon) ► Third Republic –  Created after civil war  Parliamentary with weak executive ► Vichy regime during WWII – collaborated with Nazis ► Fourth Republic – ► Fifth Republic – since 1958  Current president Nicholas Sarkozy

► Most of 19 th & early 20 th c – France preserved political & economic stability at cost of modernization ► Slow growth of French population ► Large peasantry until 20 th c – inhibited industrialization ► Underdeveloped entrepreneurial spirit – excelled at luxury goods – not mass production

Germany – regime history ► First German state – Holy Roman Empire – Charlemagne – 800 A.D. (First Reich)  Two factors hindered German state formation: uncertain geographic boundaries & religious division  Junkers – reactionary noble landlords eastern Prussia – promoted patriotic military, honor, duty, service to state ► Second Reich –  Authoritarian regime – democratic in appearance  Primary goal – rapid industrialization  “scramble for Africa” failed  Count Otto von Bismarck – German chancellor from  Kaiser Wilhelm II – abdicated at end of WWI

► Weimar Republic –  Social Democratic Party (SPD) – procedural democracy  Multiple political parties – far left to far right  Flaw - parties did not accept legitimacy of democracy  Treaty of Versailles - reparations  Great Depression – mark devalued ► Third Reich –  Adolf Hitler – leader of Nazi party 1920, chancellor of Germany in 1933  Loss of free speech, free press  Nazi-dominated cabinet – sweeping powers

► Divided Germany –  Cold War tensions - division – Federal Republic of Germany (West) vs German Democratic Republic (East) – communist  Berlin Wall built 1961 ► Challenge of German unification –  Berlin Wall opened 1989 – formal unification took place one year later  Unification strained Germany’s budget and democratic institutions ► Germany in Euro Era – 1998-present  Germany is economic anchor of EU concerns that open borders and immigration will erode what it means to be “German”

Organization of State – France & Germany

France ► Fifth Republic – semipresidential system  Combines elements of presidential & parliamentary systems  Both president & parliament popularly elected  Dual executive: president appoints a prime minister and government  Parliament can vote motion of censure – which can force government to resign

► Executive  France first major country to adopt semipresidential system  Other countries have since adopted this – Russia, Austria, Finland, Portugal, Sri Lanka, Iceland, Iraq  President is head of state, but also has policy-making & executive power  Prime minister & cabinet appointed by president but responsible to parliament  President powerful because ► Personalities – Charles de Gaulle ► Powers conferred by constitution ► Political practices of Fifth Republic – but government, not president, still first policy-making institution

► Legislature  Bicameral: National Assembly & Senate ► National Assembly – passes legislation, and can force government to resign by voting censure  Power diminished in Fifth Republic - especially limited powers of oversight and budgetary process  Executive can dissolve National Assembly before five-year term ends  Executive cannot dissolve Senate – but Senate lacks powers of National Assembly ► Senators elected by mayors & town councilors – nine-year terms

► Two major parties:  Union pour un mouvement populaire (UMP) ► Started with De Gaulle, became dominant again with Chirac in 1995 ► Includes current president Sarkhozy  Parti socialiste (PS) ► Prominent in the 1980s ► Sponsored sweeping reforms ► Key support from civil servants, low-income groups, educated professionals

Issues in France ► Pride in concepts of liberty, equality, fraternity ► Extensive welfare state programs – cradle to grave  Excellent public schools – free university education for qualifying stuents  Public housing, rent subsidies  Minimum wage higher than U.S. – six weeks paid vacation a year ► Polls show 63% of French believe their country is in decline ► Largest number of Muslims (5 million) and Jews (500,000) of any country in Europe ► Antiglobalization movement – Jean-Marie Le Pen -anti- immigrant, anti-semitic sentiment

Germany ► Federal system – 16 states with considerable power ► Parliamentary democracy – similar to Britain and Japan ► Chancellor (executive/head of government) is also head of leading party in Bundestag (legislature)  Current chancellor Angela Merkel

► Executive  President ► Head of state, weaker position than chancellor ► Role more ceremonial than political ► President chosen by proportional representation in Federal Convention  Chancellor ► The “real” leader ► Elected by majority of members of Bundestag ► Forms a cabinet of ministers  Bureaucracy ► Powerful in federal, state & local governments

► Legislature:  Upper house – Bundesrat ► Officials elected or appointed to regional (Lander) governments) 69 members from 16 states  Lower house – Bundestag ► Members elected directly seats– voters choose individual district representatives ► Two ballot electoral system – tends to produce multiple political parties – but minor parties tend not to gain significant members ► Personalized proportional representation – citizens cast two votes on each ballot - allocation of seats in Bundestag depends on portion of votes parties obtain

► Germany often called a party democracy because parties so important in shaping state policy ► Major parties:  Social Democratic Party (SPD) – moderate-left  Christian Democratic (CDU or CSU in Bavaria) – moderate-right  Smaller centrist Free Democratic Party (FDP)  Now many smaller parties complicating politics

Issues in Germany ► Continuing issues after unification ► Rapid expansion of EU – at odds with traditional German economy ► Globalization ► Immigration – conflict among ethnic groups  Rise of right-wing violence – has education, media addressed Nazi past? ► Gender issues – women lag behind in advancement in business