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Resources Essay Questions Click on the bar below to jump to each question or scroll to the bottom to download this page.
11. The State and the pressure groups Can any single model be satisfactorily applied to relations between interest groups and the state in France? To what does confrontation routinely characterise relations between interest groups and the state in France? Why are French interest groups so fragmented? Websites The peak government body charged with interest group representation
within the state is the Conseil Économique et Social: The Labour and Social Affairs Ministry, with (comparatively) recent
labour and strike statistics available: Almost all interest groups set up a website as a matter of course. Most of those mentioned in this chapter, where they have not disbanded, are listed below. Trade Unions Farmers' Unions Business Organisations Medicine Education Anti-Racism, Human Rights Defence of the Unemployed, Homeless, and Excluded Women's Organisations Regionalists Gays Magistrates 12. Paris and the provinces: the post-Jacobin State 'The French local government system manages to combine the disadvantages of excessive localism with those of excessive centralisation.' Discuss. To what extent should French decentralisation since 1983 be viewed as unfinished business? If the French system remains a relatively centralised one by European standards, why do so many leading French politicians hold local or regional offices? Websites The Interior Ministry's regular guide Les Collectivités
Locales en Chiffres offers details on the numbers and sizes of France's
local authorities, and on their budgets: Association des Maires de France: Association des Maires de Grandes Villes de France: Association des Petites Villes de France: Association des Régions de France: Assemblée des Départements de France: Institut de la Décentralisation: The Groupement de Recherches sur l'Administration Locale en Europe
(GRAL) has an important website: Sites of many of France's 36,000 communes can be accessed via http://www.communes-de-france.com/, and those of the départements and regions through http://www.conseil-general.com/. 13. French justice and the elusive État de droit To what extent, and in what ways, has French politics become 'judicialised' since 1970? How far can contemporary France be viewed as an État de droit? What are the functions of the Constitutional Council, and how effectively does it fulfil them? Websites European Court of Justice: European Court of Human Rights: Conseil Constitutionnel: Conseil d'État: Cour des Comptes: Conseil Supérieur de la Magistrature: Médiateur de la République: Cour de Cassation: Syndicat de la Magistrature: 14. France and European Integration How far has France furthered European integration? Compare and contrast the results of France's European referendums of 1992 and 2005. How far has France's commitment to European integration represented a strategy for managing a resurgent post-war Germany? 'A strong Europe with weak institutions'. How accurately is this view of France's ideal Europe? Analyse the strengths and weakness of France's procedures for making and implementing European policy. Websites Europa is the portal for websites connected to the European Union: Eurobarometer is the indispensable source of EU-wide opinion polls: News and debate on the EU: Neither France's European Affairs Ministry nor the SGAE has a website of its own. What are the reasons for the social and political malaise that many observers have detected in France since the 1980s? How well adapted are France's institutions to the requirements of the twenty-first century? Websites The World Trade Organisation: Forbes Magazine lists:
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