Extract
[...] In fact, the crises of 2024 and the loss of confidence of the people in the President of the Republic led to the dissolution of the National Assembly, but without the legislative elections giving a clear majority. In return, this has led to a long period of transition followed by a motion of censure in December 2024, and a certain wavering in the functioning of the regime. Does the practice of the Fifth Republic reveal dysfunctions of a nature to require a change of political regime? Indisputably, the recent crises have plunged the Fifth Republic into its trenches Nevertheless, the analysis of the Constitution reveals a resilient Republic and without genuine institutional blockages (II). [...]
[...] This is perfectly illustrated by the rate of abstention in national elections. Thus, in the second round of the 2024 presidential election, Emmanuel Macron did not receive the majority of the votes of the French, nor even of the electoral body. He received the majority of the votes of the voters, which corresponds to only 38.5% of the registered voters, thus leaving aside the non-registered. Similarly, in legislative elections, abstention was around which means that in tightly contested constituencies, the elected person did not receive the majority of the votes of the people on the lists. [...]
[...] B - A presidentialization of the regime as a democratic impasse The practice of power under the Fifth Republic has been variable in history. We often retain the model of the 'republican monarch' as having been initiated by de Gaulle, but his practice of presidential power was different from contemporary practice. He thus did not intervene in the prerogatives of the Government to administer the State. However, undoubtedly, the transition in 1962 to the direct universal suffrage election of the president strengthened his democratic legitimacy. [...]
[...] Talking about the 'Fifth Republic' is referring to a Constitution and a political regime. The Constitution is that of October with its direct and implicit revisions. Thus, and we will see, the 1958 text has seen its balance largely disrupted with the 1962 revision establishing the election of the President of the Republic by direct universal suffrage, but also by the decision of the Constitutional Council liberty of association advancing a genuine constitutional review of laws. The political regime of this republic is thought ab initio as a rationalized parliamentary regime, that is, a regime in which the Parliament, or one of its chambers, has the power to force the Government to resign. [...]
[...] The transition was long, but a government was eventually appointed and was not censored. The budget discussion could begin, albeit ten days late. Article 49, paragraph led to the government being censored in November, but there was no real crisis: an emergency law was adopted to make up for the lack of budget by 1he by January 2025, and a government was eventually appointed a few weeks after the censure, and which has not yet been censored. [...]
