The constitution of the Fifth Republic, which was drawn up in 1958 under the guidance of de Gaulle, was intended to create a system that would banish the instability of the Fourth Republic. To do this, it would seem that clear definitions of where certain powers, most notably the executive ones, lay would be an essential ingredient in it. Although arguments over where power lay were not explicitly responsible for the failure of the Fourth Republic, in order to create a system that allowed for substantial political movement, this form of clarity would seem to be a prerequisite. Yet the current French constitution is decidedly vague in specifying whether Prime Minister or President should wield the bulk of executive power. The President has the power to appoint the Prime Minister, but articles 20 and 21 state the it is the Prime Minister who is put "in general charge of the work of government" and who

In practice, however, it is obvious that the President enjoys far greater powers than the constitution specifies. De Gaulle controversially interpreted it as giving the President authority of State as entrusted to him by the people. The introduction of election by way of direct suffrage in 1962 gave the President the right make the claim that he had a mandate from the people that was equal in stature to that of the National Assembly, which was also elected by direct suffrage. Thus, as authority resided in the people, the directly elected head of state was the holder of that authority, and was mandated to exercise it as he saw fit. The change in electoral system was hugely important in the acquisition of powers by the President.

Although the groundwork was laid for the presidency by De Gaulle, his successors added their own interpretation of the constitution to the position by extending the range of areas in which it was considered acceptable for the President to exercise policy control in. De Gaulle's successor, Georges Pompidou, had been Prime Minister for six years prior to being elected President, and brought to the post an interest in economic and political affairs that he had developed as Prime Minister. Thus these areas became assimilated into the remit of the Presidency. This continued upon the election of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in 1974; owing to his background in the financial inspectorate, and long tenure spent at the Finance Ministry under de Gaulle and continuously throughout Pompidou's premiership, he was unwilling to relinquish any policy-making power in this area, as well as his other interests in social and environmental concerns. He once declared that there were only two areas where he would not interfere: justice and information, but both had already been invaded by his predecessors, and he himself to some extent was involved in matters concerning the French media. Thus it would seem that by the time François Mitterand was elected in 1981, there was no area of policy that the President could not intervene in if he saw fit to do so.

These powers are clearly not what de Gaulle was after in writing the constitution, so why not explicitly lay down that the President would be the head of the executive, set out precisely what powers he should have from the start, and not have to go through the process of assimilating power over the course of the next few years? The answer lies in French history, which is littered with warnings of the dangers that were associated with creating too powerful a figure as the head of the political system, namely violence and disruption. Undoubtedly the turmoil associated with Bonapartism was a factor that meant a strong

Some topics in this essay:
Prime Minister, François Mitterand, De Gaulle, National Assembly, De Gaulle's, Fourth Republic, Fifth Republic, Finance Ministry, Valéry Giscard, Minister President, de gaulle, prime minister, national assembly, fifth republic, de gaulle's, fourth republic, president power, giscard d'estaing, strong executive, prime minister president, powers president, valéry giscard d'estaing, acquisition powers president, de gaulle's desire,