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"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 wonderif 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 40years 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"--
List of contents
1. Cohabitation and Policymaking in Semi-Presidential Systems 2. Policymaking under Cohabitation 3. Institutional Dynamics and Policymaking Efficiency 4. Cohabitations and Policymaking Efficiency: An Empirical Test 5. Cohabitation and Prime Ministerial Policymaking Strategies 6. Conclusions
About the author
Sébastien Lazardeux is Assistant Professor of Political Science at St. John Fisher College, USA. He was previously Lecturer at the University of Washington and Post-Doctoral Researcher in Bordeaux, France. He has published in Governance, West European Politics, and French Politics. His work focuses on legislative institutions and radical right politics.
Report
'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
