The French Elections of January 2, 1956

• Published date: 01 March 1956
• Date: 01 March 1956
• Author: Murray S. Steadman
• DOI: 10.1177/106591295600900107
• Subject Matter: Articles

70

THE

FRENCH

ELECTIONS

OF

JANUARY

2,

1956

MURRAY

S.

STEADMAN,

JR.

Swarthmore

College

OLLOWING

heated

days

of

increasingly

bitter

debate

over

electoral

reform,

the

French

National

Assembly,

on

November

29,

1955,

refused

’&dquo;

to

vote

confidence

in

the

Government

of

Premier

Edgar

Faure.

Since

the

negative

tally

of

318

votes

exceeded

by

four

an

absolute

majority

of

the

Assembly,

the

Government

was

forced

to

resign,

in

keeping

with

the

terms

of

Article

49

of

the

Constitution.

The

action

of

the

Assembly

was

neither

unexpected

nor

unusual.

How-

ever,

since

the

Faure

Government

was

the

second

to

be

overthrown

by

an

absolute

majority

within

18

months,

and

since

these

actions

occurred

after

the

first

18-month

period

of

the

Parliament,

the

possibility

of

dissolution

under

Article

51

arose.

After

a

moment

of

indecision,

the

Council

of

Ministers

decided

to

request

dissolution,

and

by

decree

of

December

2

this

was

accomplished.

New

elections

were

scheduled

for

January

2,

1956.

The

normal

life

of

the

Assembly

was

therefore

shortened

by

six

months.

The

dissolution,

the

first

under

the

1946

Constitution

of

the

Fourth

Republic,

resulted

in

vehement

charges

of

bad

faith

from

politicians

op-

posed

to

M.

Faure,

especially

from

his

arch

rival,

Pierre

Mendes-France.

Despite

frequent

mutterings

of

&dquo;opportunism&dquo;

and

&dquo;unfairness,&dquo;

the

weight

of

legal

opinion

held

that

the

dissolution

was

thoroughly

constitutional.

On

the

other

hand,

those

French

who

always

see

a

man

on

horseback

just

over

the

horizon

sought

to

revive

memories

of

Marshal

MacMahon’s

ill,

fated

dissolution

of

the

Parliament

during

the

earliest

period

of

the

Third

Republic.

Previous

elections

had

done

little

to

encourage

the

belief

that

the

elections

of

January

2,

1956,

would

result

in

firm

Parliamentary

coalitions.’

As

a

result

of

the

first

elections

under

the

Constitution,

those

of

November

10,

1946,

the

Communists,

Socialists,

and

the

MRP

had

among

them

three-quarters

of

the

seats

in

the

Assembly.

This

coalition

of

three

highly

disciplined

parties,

unique

in

French

history,

fell

apart

during

1947,

largely

over

the

questions

of

economic

policy

and

of

Indo-China.

On

May

4,

the

1

Glossary

of

terms:

PC,

Communist

Party;

SFIO,

Socialist

Party;

UDSR,

Democratic

and

Socialist

Resistance

Union;

RPF,

Rally

of

the

French

People

(the

Gaullist

organization,

which

in

1952

and

1953

split

into

the

Social

Republicans

and

the

ARS);

ARS,

Republican

and

Social

Action

group;

Social

Republicans

(comprising

two-thirds

of

the

former

RPF);

RGR,

Left

Republican

Rally

(a

holding

company

type

of

organi-

zation

including,

in

the

1951-55

Assembly,

the

Radical

Socialists

and

the

UDSR) ;

Moderates,

a

coalition

of

Center

parties,

including

the

Peasants,

the

Independent

Peasants,

and

the

Independent

Republicans.

In

addition,

the

ARS

frequently

allied

with

the

Moderates

during

the

period

1953-55.

UDCA,

the

Defense

Union

of

Businessmen

and

Artisans

(the

Poujade

Movement).