FRAGMENTED ATTACHMENTS*
*The concept of fragmented attachments refers to the fact that important political
and constitutional reforms in France have taken place under widely differing forms of
government including not only republican (democratic) systems but also monarchical
and Bonapartist regimes. This concept is used to explain the fact that the French
people today exhibit strong political attachments to a variety of constitutional
arrangements. Here are some key examples, listed historically.
First Republic, 1792-1799




Notion of popular sovereignty
Declaration of Rights of Man and the Citizen
Reduced power of Catholic Church
Beginnings of secular politics.
First Napoleonic Empire, 1804-1814





Establishment of merit-based civil service
Introduction of a system of codified laws (Napoleonic Code)
Abolition of feudal tax obligations
Introduction of uniform commercial code
Populist conception of authority: by-pass intermediate institutions.
Restored Bourbon Monarchy, 1814-1830 (Charter of 1814)





Constitutional monarchy along British lines
Religious freedom
Sanctity of property
Procedural safeguards against arrest
Some participation in legislative process by bi-cameral parliament.
Orleanist Monarchy, 1830-1848.




Abolition of censorship
Guarantee of equality before the law
Institution of trial by jury
Enhanced powers of parliament
Second Republic, 1848-1852



Direct election of the President
Power to be exercised collectively by President, Senate and Chamber of
Deputies
Chamber elected on basis of universal male suffrage
1
Second Napoleonic Empire, 1852-1870

Chief Executive “responsible to the French people”
Third Republic, 1875-1940





Indirect election of President by Senate and Chamber
Weak executive, powerful legislature: cabinet collectively responsible to
Parliament
Senate indirectly elected by representatives of rural communes
Conversion of peasantry to republicanism
Formal disestablishment of Catholic Church
Fourth Republic, 1946-1958




Initiated first economic modernization plan, post-war prosperity
Initiated extensive social legislation: paid vacations for workers, comprehensive
medical insurance; subsidies to families with children
Began decolonization: loi cadre of 1957
Began France’s integration into European Coal and Steel Community and
Common Market
2