Some Political Aspects of the French Fifth Republic

• Published date: 01 June 1960
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296001300212
• Date: 01 June 1960
• Author: Lowell G. Noonan
• Subject Matter: Articles

464

SOME

POLITICAL

ASPECTS

OF

THE

FRENCH

FIFTH

REPUBLIC*

LOWELL G.

NOONAN

University

of

Southern

California

INTRODUCTION

HE

DE

GAULLE

GOVERNMENT

that

was

invested

June

1,

1958,

received

on

the

following

day

from

the

National

Assembly

of

the

Fourth

Republic,

and

on

June

3

from

the

Council

of

the

Republic,

authorization

to

prepare

a

draft

constitution

for

the

Fifth

Republic.

Practically

all

of

the

final

draft

was

contained

in

a

speech

delivered

in

Bayeaux

on

June

16,

1946,

when

General

de

Gaulle

condemned

the

Fourth

Republic

and

the

way

in

which

its

Constitution

reduced

presidential

power.

In

addition

to

requesting

a

clear

separa-

tion

of

powers,

De

Gaulle

asked

the

right

of

a

president

to

choose

and

dismiss

his

ministers;

paradoxically,

he

also

contended

that

they

should

be

responsible

to

the

National

Assembly.

Finally,

he

recommended

that

a

president

be

endowed

with

the

power

to

dissolve

the

Assembly

and

ability

to

submit

to

popular

ref-

erenda

government-sponsored

bills

defeated

by

the

same

body.’

The

final

draft

of

the

Constitution

of

the

Fifth

Republic,

having

been

adopted

by

the

De

Gaulle

government

on

September

3,

1958,

was

submitted

to

a

referendum

on

September

28,

1958,

which

was

participated

in

by

Metropolitan

France,

Algeria,

and

the

Overseas

Departments

and

Territories.

The

questions

asked

by

the

referendum

had

not

the

same

precise

meaning

in

the

metropole

and

the

overseas

areas.

It

asked,

in

effect,

of

the

metropolitan

French:

(1)

Do

you

approve

the

Constitution

proposed

by

the

government

of

the

Republic

and

the

new

organization

of

public

powers?

(2)

Are

you

willing

to

confirm

your

belief

in

General

de

Gaulle’s

ability

to

solve

the

Algerian

problem

with

a

policy

that

is

presently

undefined?

(3)

Are

you

willing

to

express

your

confidence

in

the

General’s

Constitution,

thereby

assuring

him

that

you

wish

him

to

remain

as

chief

of

state,

and

if

you

vote

against

the

Constitution

and

the

General

returns

to

Colombey-les-deux-Eglises,

who

will

then

take

his

place

in

the

Matignon?

(4)

Are

you

in

favor

of

a

new

Franco-African

Community?

Thus,

for

the

French

of

the

metropole,

the

referendum

generally

defined

the

nature

of

what

the

oui

voter

could

subsequently

expect,

offering

the

non

voter

the

alternative

of

com-

mitting

the

society

to

subsequent

possibilities

that

ranged

from

anarchy

to

military

dictatorship.

Finally,

the

referendum

asked

the

Moslems

of

Algeria

if

they

wished

to

be

French

and

if

the

Africans

of

the

South

Sahara

were

willing

to

enter

an

African-Franco

Community,

the

Overseas

Territories

being

given

the

option

of

forming

a

new

Community

with

France,

or

of

breaking

every

tie

with

her.

The

Constitution

was

endorsed

by

83

per

cent

of

those

who

voted,

accepted

everywhere

except

in

the

African

Territory

of

Guinea,

which

thereby

declined

* The

author

wishes

to

express

his

indebtedness

to

the

International

Exchange

Board

of

the

De-

partment

of

State

for

a

Fulbright

grant

to

conduct

research

in

France

in

1957-58.

1

See

Philip

Williams,

Politics

in

Post-war

France

(London:

Longmans,

1958),

pp.

161-63,

for

summary

of

Bayeaux

constitution.