French Government Essays - Decentralization, Local Government

French Government The modern French government is run very much like the government of the United States. France is a democratic republic that is divided into three branches, the Executive branch, the Legislative branch, and the Judicial branch. The Legislative branch is made up of the Parliament, which like the United States Congress, is divided into two houses. Those being the Senate and the National Assembly. The National Assembly has 577 members and is the more powerful of the two houses, while the Senate has 319 members in this somewhat less influential house. This branch is in charge of passing and repealing laws. The Judicial branch is in charge of the courts, and criminal trials. As in the United States there is the Executive branch, which is headed by the President and Prime Minister. This branch is in charge of carrying out laws and bills passed by the parliament. The French government is quite unique, in that during times of a national emergency, such as a war, the President of France has the authority to assume almost complete power. The Local government is divided into twenty-two regions, that are further divided into ninety-five departements, which are again divided into smaller arrondissements which are then divided into communes. There are approximately 36,500 communes in France. The communes are run by mayors appointed by local municipal councils. An interesting fact about the French government, is that we get the expressionsof a left-wing party and a right-wing party from the French Revolution, because at the National Assembly, the radicals would sit on the left, and the conservatives on the right.