|
|
|
|
 |
|
March 2003, Volume 1, Number 1, Pages 119-134
|
|
|
|
|
Table of contents Previous Article Next PDF
|
|
|
|
| Review Article |
|
| French Politics: the Virtues of Majoritarian Democracy |
|
| Jan-Erik Lane1 and Svante Ersson2 |
|
1Department of Political Science, University of Geneva, Uni Mail, 40, Bd du Pont d'Arve, CH-1211 Genève 4, Switzerland
2Department of Political Science, Umeå University, SE-901 87 UMEÅ, Sweden
|
Correspondence to: Jan-Erik Lane, E-mail: jan-erik.lane@politic.unige.ch |
|
|
| Abstract |
| France, i.e. the French Republic IV and Republic V, is a true test case for institutional analysis. It may be seen as a crucial experiment testing some implications of the adherents (Duverger) and the adversaries (Lijphart) of Majoritarian democracy. This question is studied through an institutional evaluation of whether the Fifth Republic has performed better than the Fourth Republic. We use two research strategies to throw light upon the question: (1) Longitudinal evaluation of France from 1945 to the late 1990s; (2) Cross-sectional evaluation of the French semi-presidential system, comparing France to other democratic regimes, presidential or parliamentary during the 1990s. Our findings suggest that France under the Fifth Republic has shown that Majoritarian democracy can be made workable in terms of all the requirements of a constitutional democracy.
French Politics (2003) 1, 119-134. doi:10.1057/palgrave.fp.8200013 |
|
| Keywords |
| Consensus democracy; Duverger; Lijphart; Majoritarian democracy |
|
|
|
Table of contents Previous Article Next PDF
|
|
|
|
|
