French Deputies and the Political System

The Constitution of the Fifth Republic, the adoption of a single-member constituency electoral system with two ballots, and then the election of the President of the Republic by universal suffrage have greatly modified the French political system. A survey carried out during the winter of 1969-70 among 407 deputies suggests that the latter have not fully internalized the norms and practices of this new system. The deputies belonging to the majority readily accept the new institutions, but express reservations with regard to both the role of the political parties and structured parliamentarianism, the main feature of which is the existence in Parliament of a coherent and disciplined majority resulting directly from parliamentary elections. The deputies of the Left are much more in favor of party discipline and coherent majorities than are their colleagues on the Right; however, many of them reject the new institutions.