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The Senate (French: Sénat) is the upper house of the Parliament of France. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Politics of France take place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic Republic, whereby the President of France The current Constitution of France was adopted on October 4, 1958. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen (Déclaration des droits de l'Homme et du citoyen is a fundamental document of the French Revolution, defining The preamble of the Constitution of the French Fifth Republic, founded in 1958 recalls the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. See also Government of France The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, which was introduced on The government of France is a Semi-presidential system determined by the French Constitution of the fifth Republic, in which the nation declares The President of the French Republic (Président de la République française colloquially referred to in English as the President of France, is France 's elected Nicolas Sarkozy (pronounced, Second French Republic (1848-1852 President of the Provisional Government of the Republic Jacques Charles Dupont de l'Eure (24 February 1848 The Prime Minister of France ( Premier ministre français) in Fifth Republic is the functional Head of the government and Council of Ministers François Fillon (fʁɑ̃swa fijɔ̃ born 4 March 1954 in Le Mans, Sarthe) is the current Prime Minister of France, having been appointed to that Early Modern France Chief Ministers of the French Kings Armand Jean du Plessis Cardinal Richelieu 1624-1642 Jules Cardinal The Constitutional Council ( Conseil Constitutionnel) was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958 This article is for the post-Revolutionary and present-day institution The French National Assembly. The other is the Senate ( “Sénat”) The French Congress (Congrès du Parlement français - Congress of the French Parliament is the name given to the body created when both houses of the present-day French This article is about the present-day French institution For institutions with the same name during the Ancien Régime in France see Conseil du Roi. The Court of Cassation ( Cour de cassation in French) is the main Court of last resort in France. Political parties in France lists political parties in France. Gaullism (Gaullisme is a French political ideology based on the thought and action of Charles de Gaulle. The Left in France at the beginning of the 20th century was represented by two main Political parties, the Republican Radical and Radical-Socialist Party France is a Representative democracy. Public officials in the legislative and executive branches are either elected by the citizens (directly or indirectly or appointed by elected The French presidential election of 1958 the first of the French Fifth Republic, took place on December 21, 1958. The 1965 French presidential election was the first presidential election by direct universal suffrage of the French Fifth Republic. The 1969 French presidential election took place on 1 June and 15 June 1969 French legislative elections took place on March 4 and 11 1973 to elect the 5th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. Presidential elections were held in France in 1974 following the death of President Georges Pompidou. The French legislative elections took place on March 12 and March 19, 1978 to elect the 6th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic The French presidential election of 1981 was won by François Mitterrand, the first Socialist President of the Fifth Republic. French legislative elections took place on June 14 and 21 1981 to elect the 7th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. The French legislative elections took place on March 16 1986 to elect the 8th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. Presidential elections were held in France on 24 April and 8 May 1988 French legislative elections took place on June 5 and 12 1988 to elect the 9th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, one month after the re-election of François French legislative elections took place on March 21 and 28 1993 to elect the 10th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. Presidential elections took place in France on 23 April and 7 May 1995 to elect the fifth president of the Fifth Republic. French legislative election took place in May 25 and June 1 1997 to elect the 11th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic. The 2002 French presidential election consisted of a first round election on 21 April 2002 and a runoff election between the top two candidates ( Jacques Chirac and The French legislative elections took place on June 9 and June 16, 2002 to elect the 12th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, The 2007 French presidential election, the ninth of the Fifth French Republic was held to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as president of France The French legislative elections took place on 10 June and 17 June 2007 to elect the 13th National Assembly of the Fifth Republic, |||} Metropolitan France As of January 1, 2008, Metropolitan France is divided into 22 regions (including Corsica, although France is divided into 26 regions or régions (in French of which 21 are in continental Metropolitan France, one is the island of Corsica, In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies a department (département depaʁtǝmɑ̃ is an Administrative division The European Union is a unique entity possessing elements of Intergovernmentalism, Supranationalism and a Multi-party Parliamentary democracy A charter member of the United Nations, France holds one of the permanent seats in the Security Council and is a member of most of its specialized and related agencies The Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Government of France, is the cabinet minister responsible for the Foreign relations of France. This is a list of major Political scandals in France: Until 1958 1816 - Shipwreck of and search for French Frigate Information on politics by country is available for every Country, including both De jure and De facto independent French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people An upper house is one of two chambers of a Bicameral Legislature, the other chamber being the Lower house. This article is for the post-Revolutionary and present-day institution
The Senate enjoys less prominence than the lower house, the directly elected National Assembly; debates in the Senate tend to be less tense and enjoy generally less media coverage. The French National Assembly. The other is the Senate ( “Sénat”)
A Sénat was also the upper house during the French Consulate of 1799–1804. The Consulate was the government of France between the fall of the Directory in the coup of 18 Brumaire in 1799 until the start of the
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Composition and election
Until September 2004, the Senate had 321 senators, each elected to a nine-year term. On that date, the term was reduced to six years, while the number of senators will progressively increase to 346 in 2010 to reflect changes in the country's demographics. Senators were elected in thirds every three years; this will also change to one-half of their number every three years. [1]
Senators are elected indirectly by approximately 150,000 local elected officials ("grands électeurs"), including regional councilors, department councilors, mayors, city councilors and their delegates in large towns, and deputies of the National Assembly. Indirect election is a process in which voters in an Election do not actually choose between candidates for an office but rather elect persons who will then make the choice This system introduces a bias in the composition of the Senate, which favors rural areas. As a consequence, while the political majority changes frequently in the National Assembly, the Senate has remained politically conservative since the foundation of the Fifth Republic, and it is expected that it will remain so in the forthcoming years. Conservatism is a term used to describe political philosophies that favour Tradition, where tradition refers to various religious cultural or nationally defined See also Government of France The Fifth Republic is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, which was introduced on
Twelve senators are elected to represent French citizens living outside the Republic[2]
Following from a tradition started by the first National Assembly during the French Revolution, the "left-wing" parties sit to the left as seen from the president's seat, and the "right-wing" parties sit to the right, and the seating thus indicates the political spectrum as represented in the Senate. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an In Politics, right-wing, the political right, and the Right are positions that uphold traditional values and/or authorities A political spectrum (plural Spectra) is a way of modeling different political positions by placing them upon one or more geometric axes
Composition and membership
| Group | Seats (2001) | Seats (2004) | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UMP Group | 162 | 155 | –7 | |
| Socialist Group | 83 | 97 | +14 | |
| Centrist Union - UDF Group | 31 | 33 | +2 | |
| Communist,Republican and Citizen Group | 23 | 23 | ±0 | |
| Democratic, Social, and European Rally | 17 | 16 | –1 | |
| Non-Inscrits | 5 | 7 | +2 | |
| Total: | 321 | 326 | +5 | |
Source:[3]
President
Senators elect among themselves a President. The Socialist Party ( Parti Socialiste, PS is the largest left-wing political party in France. The Union for French Democracy ( Union pour la Démocratie Française, UDF was a French centrist Political party. The French Communist Party ( French: Parti communiste français or PCF) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of The Citizen and Republican Movement ( Mouvement républicain et citoyen) is a Political party in France. The French Senate is the Upper House of the French Parliament The current incumbent is Christian Poncelet. Christian Poncelet (born 24 March 1928) is a conservative French politician The President of the Senate is also, according to the constitution of the Fifth Republic, first in line of succession in case of death, resignation or impeachment (only for health reasons) of the President of the Republic, thus becoming Acting President of the Republic until a new election can be held. Impeachment is the first of two stages in a specific process for a legislative body to forcibly remove a Government official The President of the French Republic (Président de la République française colloquially referred to in English as the President of France, is France 's elected This happened twice for Alain Poher, once at the resignation of Charles de Gaulle and once at the death of Georges Pompidou. Alain Émile Louis Marie Poher (17 April 1909 – 9 December 1996 was a French Centrist politician affiliated first with the Popular Republican Movement Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle ( ( 22 November 1890 – 9 November 1970) was a French General and statesman who led the Free French Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou (5 July 1911 2 April 1974 was President of the French Republic from 1969 until his death in 1974
Powers
According to the Constitution, the Senate has nearly the same powers as the National Assembly. The current Constitution of France was adopted on October 4, 1958. The French National Assembly. The other is the Senate ( “Sénat”) Bills may be submitted by the government (projets de loi) or by either house of Parliament (propositions de loi). For other uses see Bill. A bill is a proposed new law introduced within a Legislature that has not been ratified, adopted However, if the National Assembly and the Senate cannot agree upon the language of a bill, the Government can ask the National Assembly to make a final vote on the bill, either using the original version that the National Assembly voted on, or the edited version adopted by the Commission mixte paritaire and including any amendments put forth by the Senate that the National Assembly may desire to adopt. [1] During a period of social dominance, or conflictual bicameralism, the Assembly can override a Senate veto.
Because both houses may amend the bill, it may take several readings to reach an agreement between the National Assembly and the Senate. When the Senate and the National Assembly cannot agree on a bill, the government can decide, after a procedure called commission mixte paritaire, to give the final decision to the National Assembly, whose majority is normally on the government's side. This does not happen frequently: most of the time both houses eventually agree on the bill, or the government decides to withdraw it. However, this power gives the National Assembly a prominent role in the law-making process, especially since the government is necessarily of the same side as the Assembly, for the Assembly can dismiss the government through a motion of censure. The power to pass a vote of censure, or vote of no confidence, is limited. As was the case in the Fourth Republic's Constitution, new cabinets do not have to receive a vote of confidence. Also, a vote of censure can only occur after 10 percent of the members sign a petition; if rejected, those members who signed cannot sign another petition until that session of parliament had ended. If the petition gets the required support, a vote of censure must gain an absolute majority of all members, not just those voting. If the Assembly and the Senate have politically distinct majorities, it is expected in most cases that the Assembly will prevail, so that open conflict between the two houses is uncommon.
The Senate also serves to monitor the government's actions by publishing many reports every year on various topics.
Location
The Senate is housed inside the Palais du Luxembourg in the 6th arrondissement of Paris and is guarded by Republican Guards. The Palais du Luxembourg in the VIe arrondissement of Paris, north of the Jardin du Luxembourg, is where the French Senate meets The 6th arrondissement of Paris is one of the 20 arrondissements (administrative districts of the capital city of France. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city The Republican Guard (Garde républicaine is the Ceremonial unit of the French Gendarmerie. In front of the building lies the Senate's garden, the Jardin du Luxembourg, open to the public. The Jardin du Luxembourg is a 224500 m² Public park and the largest in the city located in the 6th ''arrondissement'' of Paris, France.
See also
- Politics of France
- French Parliament
- French Congress
- Senators for life in France
- List of Presidents of the French Senate
References
- ^ Article 45, Constitution of France of October 4, 1958. The Politics of France take place in a framework of a semi-presidential representative democratic Republic, whereby the President of France This article is for the post-Revolutionary and present-day institution The French Congress (Congrès du Parlement français - Congress of the French Parliament is the name given to the body created when both houses of the present-day French A senator for life is a member of the Senate elected or appointed for lifetime The French Senate is the Upper House of the French Parliament
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