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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.
6. The French parliament: decline – and resurgence? How effective is the French parliament at fulfilling the functions typically assigned to legislatures in Western democracies? 'Loyal workhorse, poor watchdog' (Martin Harrison). Discuss this view of the French Parliament. What steps have been taken to reinforce the power of France's parliament since 1974, and with what success? Websites The National Assembly's website posts an annual statistical review
of parliamentary activity (Bulletin de l'Assemblée Nationale,
Statistiques), as well as a recapitulation for each parliament,
from which most of the statistics in this chapter are drawn: It also supplies biographies of individual Deputies and links to
the progress of specific bills: Other National Assembly sites are those of the Office Parlementaire
d'Évaluation de la Législation: Office Parlementaire d'Évaluation des Politiques de Santé: The Senate's website: The Journal Officiel de la République Française
contains analytical tables of laws and decrees: The Legifrance website allows any bill to be tracked through the
whole legislative process: A cross-national site for parliaments: 7. The Left and the Greens: the precarious recovery Analyse and explain the divisions within the French Left. What was the appeal of Communism in France, and why has it declined? Why is France's Socialist Party weaker than in many other European countries? Websites Parti Communiste Français: Parti Socialiste: Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire: Lutte Ouvrière: Les Verts: 8. The Right: domination and division To what extent can Gaullism still be called a meaningful current within the French Right? Why has the moderate Right in France found it so difficult to unite in a single conservative party? 'Political causes, rather than socio-economic ones, were at the root of the rise of the Front National.' Discuss. Websites CNIP: CPNT: Front National: MPF: UDF: UMP: 9. Transformations of the party system: continuity and change To what extent is bipolarity in the French party system now dependent on institutional props? Analyse the factors of continuity and change in the French party system since 1958. Websites The Interior Ministry supplies a range of recent election figures
(since the late 1990s), with detail by département and city: The sites for France's polling institutes, most of which have
good archives, are as follows: Cross-national election sites: 10. The administration: foundations, myth and changing reality How applicable is the Weberian model of a bureaucracy to the administration in France? Analyse and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the state in France. What challenges have faced the French state since the 1980s, and how effectively have they been met? Is France's civil service élite a national asset or a national liability? 'La République des Fonctionnaires' (Thierry Pfister). How justifiable is this description of Fifth-Republic France? Websites The major portal for the French administration: Other bodies discussed in the chapter include:
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