Cohabitation and conflicting politics in French policymaking

"The victory of the conservative coalition in the 1986 French parliamentary elections led the way to a sharing of executive powers between a conservative prime minister and socialist President Mitterrand. This situation of cohabitation led many to wonder if this experience would mark the end of the Fifth Republic. Yet cohabitation seemed to function, which reinforced the idea that the French institutions were efficient and adaptable to changing political situations. France would experience cohabitation on two other occasions (1993-1995 and 1997-2002), with seemingly the same effects.This study presents a radically different assessment of French cohabitations. Based on a theory that emphasizes the strategic aspects of law-making, and based on more than 40 years of law-making in France, it shows that cohabitation can lead to heightened partisan conflict and policy paralysis and discusses the conditions under which it is likely to do so. The findings cast doubt on the desirability of using the French institutional blueprint for new democracies in search of efficiency in producing political, economic and social reforms"-- Read more... This study departs from traditional interpretations of cohabitation in French politics, which suggest French institutions are capable of coping when the President and Prime Minister originate from different political parties. Instead, it offers the opposite view that cohabitation leads to partisan conflict and inertia in the policy-making process. The victory of the conservative coalition in the 1986 French parliamentary elections led the way to a sharing of executive powers between a conservative prime minister and socialist President Mitterrand. This situation of cohabitation led many to wonder if this experience would mark the end of the Fifth Republic. Yet cohabitation seemed to function, which reinforced the idea that the French institutions were efficient and adaptable to changing political situations. France would experience cohabitation on two other occasions (1993-1995 and 1997-2002), with seemingly the same effects. This study presents a radically different assessment of French cohabitations. Based on a theory that emphasizes the strategic aspects of law-making, and based on more than 40 years of law-making in France, it shows that cohabitation can lead to heightened partisan conflict and policy paralysis and discusses the conditions under which it is likely to do so. The findings cast doubt on the desirability of using the French institutional blueprint for new democracies in search of efficiency in producing political, economic and social reforms "The victory of the conservative coalition in the 1986 French parliamentary elections led the way to a sharing of executive powers between a conservative prime minister and socialist President Mitterrand. This situation of cohabitation led many to wonder if this experience would mark the end of the Fifth Republic. Yet cohabitation seemed to function, which reinforced the idea that the French institutions were efficient and adaptable to changing political situations. France would experience cohabitation on two other occasions (1993-1995 and 1997-2002), with seemingly the same effects. This study presents a radically different assessment of French cohabitations. Based on a theory that emphasizes the strategic aspects of law-making, and based on more than 40 years of law-making in France, it shows that cohabitation can lead to heightened partisan conflict and policy paralysis and discusses the conditions under which it is likely to do so. The findings cast doubt on the desirability of using the French institutional blueprint for new democracies in search of efficiency in producing political, economic and social reforms"-- Provided by publisher Front Matter....Pages i-xi Cohabitation and Policymaking in Semi-Presidential Systems....Pages 1-21 Policymaking under Cohabitation....Pages 22-44 Institutional Dynamics and Policymaking Efficiency....Pages 45-87 Cohabitation and Policymaking Efficiency: An Empirical Test....Pages 88-111 Cohabitation and Prime Ministerial Policymaking Strategies....Pages 112-134 Conclusion: Cohabitation and Policymaking in Comparative Context....Pages 135-146 Back Matter....Pages 147-187 Review: 'This original analysis provides new insights into the policy process under divided government, or cohabitation, in France. With a combination of institutional analysis, formal logic, and important newly collected empirical evidence, Lazardeux provides an important cautionary tale about the functioning of the core institutions of the Fifth Republic.' - Frank R. Baumgartner, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA