University of Mauritius

Assignment on POLITICAL ECONOMICS

Lecturer: Ms Tania DIOLLE

Submitted by
Ms Satee Ansuya GOOLY
ID:1318043

Diploma/BSc (Hons) Social Work- Part Time

SH410

Political Economics
COMPARE

AND

CONTRAST

THE

FUNDAMENTAL

SIMILARITIES

AND

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN BRITISH AND FRENCH POLITICAL SYSTEM

A constitution is a set of rules, generally in written form, which identify and regulate the major
institutions of the state and govern the relationship between the state and the individual citizen.
In most countries the written constitution is the ultimate source of legal authority; all actions of
government and the law-making body (the legislature) must conform to the constitution. In order
to uphold and interpret the constitution there will be a Supreme Court. As the constitution is the
ultimate authority, any action which contravenes the rules of the constitution will be both
unconstitutional and unlawful. Written constitutions also contain procedural rules for the
amendment of the constitution. Constitutions, whether written or unwritten, will share common
features.

Introduction
The British system is one that has evolved over many centuries, with both small and large
adjustments along the way to keep in on course. In contrast to this, the French model has
changed dramatically on several occasions, and can rarely have been described as stable.
However, in 1958 Charles de Gaulle made some brave changes to the constitution, which after
being approved by the French public; set the scene for the classic semi-presidential system that
we see today.
Britain
The United Kingdom is a democratic constitutional monarchy, with a system of government
often known as the Westminster Model. It has been used as a model of governance in many
countries, and undoubtedly indirectly inspired many more. Britains largely unwritten
constitution is the product of history.
Most countries have experienced an event which marked a clear break with history and provided
the opportunity to codify their constitutional arrangements. Britain is exceptional in this respect,
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and the constitution is the result of gradual evolution rather than any conscious effort to design a
complete system of constitution and government. The British constitution has simply developed
in accordance with the needs as they are perceived at the time. This may be seen as both strength
and a weakness. It is strength in that it enables the British constitution to evolve to meet
changing circumstances
Somewhat unusually, the constitution is unwritten, consisting of conventions along with statutory
law and common law, which are collectively referred to as British constitutional law.
The head of state and theoretical source of executive and legislative power in the UK is the
British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. In theory, the British sovereign can dissolve
Parliament whenever they desire. They can in theory choose any British citizen to be Prime
Minister, even if they are not a member of the House of Commons or House of Lords.
Theoretically, the Sovereign possesses the ability to refrain from granting Royal Assent to a Bill
from Parliament, in addition to being able to declare war and appoint ministers.
In practice, the head of state is a largely ceremonial role, with powers restricted by convention.
However, the monarch holds three essential rights, the right to be consulted, the right to advise
and the right to warn.
Also, as the position of head of state tends to be held for a longer period of time than that of
Prime Minister, the monarch builds up lots of experience and wisdom which is at the disposal of
the government. Thus the political head of the UK is the Prime Minister (PM), who must be
supported by the House of Commons.
The executive branch of the UK system is the Government (or more formally, Her Majesty's
Government). The monarch appoints (or in reality, approves) a Prime Minister, who in turn
appoints other Members of Parliaments (MPs) to act as Ministers, who are collectively known as
the Government, and head the various government departments. The Government is answerable
to parliament, from which its members are taken. A vote of no confidence can be called if any
government-sponsored bill is defeated in the Commons. If the vote of no confidence is passed,
the PM must either resign, or ask the monarch to dissolve parliament, and call a general election.
In practice, since a government usually holds a majority in the Commons, and party whips' try to

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ensure that party members support the government; governments are likely to win all but the
most controversial votes.
Parliament
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme
legislative institution in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories (it alone has
parliamentary sovereignty). It consists of a head of state (currently Queen Elizabeth II), a
bicameral system which includes an Upper House, called the House of Lords, and a Lower
House, called the House of Commons. The House of Lords is an almost wholly appointed body.
The House of Commons, on the other hand, is a democratically elected chamber. The House of
Lords and the House of Commons meet in separate chambers in the Palace of Westminster (the
Houses of Parliament), in central London.
The differences between the constituent members of the UK are interesting, England, despite
being the most developed, populous and richest member, is the only one without its own
devolved government. There is usually a majority in Parliament, thanks to the First Past the Post
electoral system so coalitions are rare. The monarch normally asks a person commissioned to
form a government simply whether it can survive in the House of Commons, something which
minority governments can do, albeit with more problems than a majority government.
Rule of Law
Rule of law is one of the unique characteristics of the English constitution. The British judicial
system is based on the doctrine of Rule of Law. The Rule of Law means that administration is
carried on in accordance with the law of the land. Law is supreme over all. None can claim
exemption or immunity from it.
Devolution is a fairly recent trend that has changed the face of British politics. Scotland now has
its own parliament, and Wales and Northern Ireland both have national assemblies. Most
members of these new bodies are elected using Proportional Representation, unlike the
Commons. The powers of these bodies is restricted, and are always dependent on the Commons
for their existence, which can be altered at any time
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The First Past the Post system is used for general elections, and also local government elections
in England, Scotland and Wales.

France
One of the first things we notice that is different about the French system is that it has a written
constitution. It is worth examining this in order to evaluate the aims of the French public bodies.
The constitution of the fifth republic seeks to combine two different principles: the principle of
parliamentary democracy and the principles of presidential democracy. The text of the
constitution is incomplete of the system of government, so it is difficult to label the constitution
as parliamentary or presidential. But it provides for a parliamentary system of government.
In this Constitution, France declares herself to be an indivisible, (roughly, "secular") democratic
and social republic. There is a clear separation of powers, into the well-known executive,
legislative, and judiciary. There is also mention of a number of human rights. Whilst the
President does hold some direct executive power, the Prime Minister retains most of it. The
French lower house, the National Assembly approves his appointment.
The Parliament passes statutes, and votes the budget, as well as maintaining checks on the
executive, by holding commissions and questioning. The Constitutional Council acts as a check
on the Parliament, by assessing the constitutionality of the statutes. Finally, the independent
judiciary is divided into the judicial branch (dealing with civil and criminal law) and the
administrative branch (dealing with recourses against executive decisions), each with their own
independent supreme court.
As the UK, France is a unitary state, but as the UK it has various regional divisions.
Traditionally, France has been much more centralised than the UK, despite the regions,
departments and communes, having the legal right to carry out various functions.

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The Constitution
In 1958, a new constitution was approved, which greatly strengthened the powers of the
president and the executive, whilst at the same time weakening those of the parliament. This
brought into being the famous semi-presidential system of de Gaulle, so called because whilst
the President does hold certain powers, and remains a strong influence, the actual power lies with
the National Assembly. This is in contrast to the UK system, where the equivalent head of state
holds only ceremonial powers.
The constitution does not contain a bill of rights in itself, but its preamble mentions that France
should follow the principles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, as well
as those of the preamble to the constitution of the Fourth Republic. This has been judged to
imply that the principles laid in those texts had constitutional value, and that legislation
infringing on those principles should be found unconstitutional.
Among these foundational principles, one may cite:

the equality of all citizens before law, and the rejection of special class privileges such as
those that existed prior to the French Revolution;

presumption of innocence;

freedom of speech;

freedom of opinion including freedom of religion;

the guarantee of property against seizures;

the accountability of government agents before citizens.

The executive

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France has an original system with an executive headed by two officials: the President and the
Prime Minister. The President is elected for a period of five years, with various responsibilities,
including naming the prime minister, ruling over the cabinet, commanding the armed forces, and
concluding treaties. He may also call national referenda and dissolve the National Assembly. He
also holds certain emergency powers.
The President's power in choosing the Prime Minister and cabinet should not be underestimated,
as his own political agenda can often be pushed through. However, as the President is
constrained to choose a Prime Minster and cabinet reflecting parliament's majority, this limits
these powers somewhat.
When parties from opposite ends of the political spectrum control parliament and the presidency,
the power-sharing arrangement is known as cohabitation. As of 2005, the President is Jacques
Chirac (since 17 May 1995). He was re-elected in 2002 for 5 more years.
The Government
This is the French equivalent of the British cabinet. It is headed by the Prime Minister, as with
the British system. It answers to Parliament, who may pass a motion of censure, which forces its
resignation. It in turn is answerable to by the civil service, various government agencies, and the
armed forces. Ministers have to answer questions from members of Parliament, both written and
oral; this is known as the questions au government, which acts as a check
The Legislative
As with the British model, The Parliament of France is bicameral: the National Assembly and the
Senate; the Assembly being the upper body.
Although the 1958 constitution weakened the Parliament, the National Assembly still retains a
good deal of power, and indeed can call the motion to censure, which as described above can
force the resignation of the cabinet.
The cabinet strongly influences the Parliamentary agenda The government can link its term to a
legislative text which it proposes, and unless a motion of censure is introduced (within 24 hours
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after the proposal) and passed (within 48 hours of introduction - thus full procedures last at most
72 hours), the text is considered adopted without a vote.
The Senate is comparable to the British second house, i.e. the House of Lords. Its powers are
strictly limited. Many French commentators feel it sits awkwardly in the French system, being
typically more right-wing than the National Assembly, as well as not being directly elected, or
even representative. It bears an interesting comparison with the House of Lords, which has the
same accusations thrown at it, but which has now undergone tremendous reforms, if not to
improve the direct electedness of its members, but to make it more representative.
The Judiciary
France has a system of civil law, but jurisprudence plays an important role similar to that of case
law. The most distinctive feature of the French judicial system is that it is divided into the
judicial and the administrative orders of courts. The judicial order of courts judges civil and
penal cases. It consists of first instance courts, courts of appeal, and the Cour de cassation.
Judges are civil servants, but enjoy special statutory protection from the executive. They may not
be moved or promoted without their consent. Their careers are overseen by the High Council of
the Magistracy. The prosecution service, on the other hand, responds to the Minister of Justice.
This has led to accusations of corruption in the past, when litigations against MPs has been
dropped.
Local Government
This is another area that comparison to the UK bears fruit. Both countries are highly
regionalised, with distinct languages and cultures differing from the main national identity.
However, Britain has made great strides to offer representation to its regions, whereas France has
traditionally been very highly centralised, with each of France's departments headed by a prefect
appointed by the central government.

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Conclusion
The British constitution is the product of history: a slow and largely peaceful (apart fromthe
seventeenth century) process of evolution. Change has been brought about on the basis of
experience rather than by some conscious grand design.
Great Britain and France have had extremely different pasts that have led to different forms of
democratic government. Great Britain with an early industrial revolution and stable government
developed a strong parliament that gradually became more democratic; on the other hand, France
had a late industrial revolution, unstable governments, and a rapid change towards a strong stable
democratic executive branch. Both these countries have recently instituted similar programs in
order to improve the prevalence of certain democratic ideals such as participation, representation,
accountability and civil rights. In the future one might speculate that further institutional changes
will be made in an attempt to reach the ever-improving democratic ideal. As a conclusion, I
should note, that the system of government in Great Britain is very complicated and rather
conservative
Unlike the British Parliament, the French Parliament is not a sovereign law- making body. Its
powers are limited. Apart from this rule making power of the executive, the government may
also, with the permission of the parliament, take over, for a limited period, the responsibility for
dealing with mattes that fall within the domain law.

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References
Websites
1) http://www.studylecturenotes.com/constitutional-laws/salientfeatures-of-french-constitution. Accessed on 20 March 2014

2) http://mamunedu.blogspot.com/2011/12/describe-fundamentalfeature-of.html. Accessed on 20 March 2014

3) http://www.ambafrance-us.org/spip.php?article562

By

Dr

Guy

Carcassone. Accessed on 20 March 2014

4) http://thefrenchandenglishconstitutionalsystems.blogcitoyen.fr/
Comparison between the French and English Constitutional Systems.
Accessed on 20 March 2014

5) http://www.studymode.com/essays/Political-Systems-Of-France-AndBritain-60036.html. Accessed on 20 March 2014

6) http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/conseilconstitutionnel/english/constitution/constitution-of-4-october1958.25742.html. Accessed on 20 March 2014
7) http://www.scribd.com/doc/49701689/British-constitution-andmonarchy. Accessed on 20 March 2014
8) http://www.scribd.com/doc/25143572/The-Principle-of-Equality-inFrench-Constitutional-Law. Accessed on 20 March 2014
9) Bagehot.W- The English Constitution
10) Carcassonne. G May 2002.The Principles of the French Constitution
11) Erikbleich Integrating ideas into Policy-Making analysis Frames and Race Policies
InBritainandFrance MiddleburyCollege

Comparative Political Studies Vol 35 No9

November 2002
12) John W. Cooper, (2002) -Great Britain and France: History and Institutional Changes
13) Mark.K Introduction to Comparative Politics. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, MA,
2000.
14)

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Palekar. S.A 2009 Comparative politics and Government

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