GOVT-130 FA3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Safe Seat, Cumul Des Mandats, Parliamentary Sovereignty
28 Mar 2017
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Document Summary
During the third and fourth republics, republicanism rested on parliamentary supremacy. Parliament as the main expression of popular sovereignty, represented the main decision maker in politics. Parliament was supreme in that it had a monopoly of legislative power, at least in theory. Parliament elected the president of the republic. Parliament invested and dismissed prime ministers and cabinets at will. They controlled the budgetary process and used powers of surveillance over the executive branch (votes of censure and questions to the government) Parliament was the absolute master over such matters as special sessions of parliament, parliamentary rules, and could dissolve the assembly before the calling of new elections. With the onset of the fifth republics, the parliament of france, formerly one of the most powerful in the world, became one of the weakest. The gaullists wanted to harness the parliament in order to achieve an efficient collaboration with the executive branch.
