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The 'Fifth Republic' is the fifth and current republican constitution of France, which was introduced on October 5, 1958. The Fifth Republic emerged from the ashes of the French Fourth Republic, replacing a parliamentary government with a semi-presidential system.
''See Government of France for a discussion of the current workings of the French government and Politics of France for a discussion of current politics.''

Contents

Foundation by Charles de Gaulle

Fifth Republic: Presidents

Fifth Republic: Prime ministers

See also

Foundation by Charles de Gaulle

The impetus behind the creation of the Fifth Republic was the Algiers crisis of 1958. Although France had since parted with many of its colonies, such as many of those in West Africa and Southeast Asia, it still retained Algeria, which had a large French population that opposed decolonization. Algeria eventually became independent on July 5, 1962, despite the efforts of a handful of intransigent officers of the anti-decolonization movement. De Gaulle publicly condemned their terroristic acts on Algeria and France alike, arranging a peace with the Algerian nationalist rebels. Finally, France had acquired the stability that its voters clamored for, and Algeria was independent.
Charles de Gaulle used the crisis as an opportunity to create a new French government with a stronger office of president, which had been largely that of a figurehead. French presidents, as in preceding constitutions, were given a long term (7 years, now reduced to 5 years) and currently still have more internal power than most of their European counterparts in parliamentary democracies. On September 28, 1958, a referendum took place and 79.2% of those who voted supported the new constitution.
The president was initially elected by an electoral college, but in 1962 de Gaulle proposed that the president should be directly elected by the citizens in a referendum. Although the method and intents of de Gaulle in that referendum were highly contested by most political groups except for the Gaullists, the change was approved by the French electorate. Given the runoff voting system used in the presidential election, the president of the Republic has a high degree of legitimacy, since he or she has to obtain a majority at either the first or second round of elections.

Fifth Republic: Presidents

President	Born-died	from	to	Party
Charles de Gaulle	1890-1970	December 21, 1959	April 28, 1969 (resigned)	UNRthen UDR
Alain Poher	1909-1996	April 28, 1969	June 15, 1969 (interim)	PDM
Georges Pompidou	1911-1974	June 15, 1969	April 2, 1974 (died in office)	UDR
Alain Poher	1909-1996	April 2, 1974	May 19, 1974 (interim)	PDM
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing	1926-	May 19, 1974	May 10, 1981	UDF
François Mitterrand	1916-1996	May 10, 1981	May 17, 1995	Socialist
Jacques Chirac	1932-	May 17, 1995	May 16, 2007	RPRthen UMP
Nicolas Sarkozy	1955-	May 16, 2007	present	UMP

Fifth Republic: Prime ministers

Prime Minister	from	to	Party
Michel Debré	January 8, 1959	April 14, 1962	UNR
Georges Pompidou	April 14, 1962	July 10, 1968	UNR
Maurice Couve de Murville	July 10, 1968	June 20, 1969	UDR
Jacques Chaban-Delmas	June 20, 1969	July 6, 1972	UDR
Pierre Messmer	July 6, 1972	May 27, 1974	UDR
Jacques Chirac	May 27, 1974	August 26, 1976	UDR
Raymond Barre	August 26, 1976	May 21, 1981	UDF
Pierre Mauroy	May 21, 1981	July 17, 1984	Socialist
Laurent Fabius	July 17, 1984	March 20, 1986	Socialist
Jacques Chirac	March 20, 1986	May 10, 1988	RPR
Michel Rocard	May 10, 1988	May 15, 1991	Socialist
Edith Cresson	May 15, 1991	April 2, 1992	Socialist
Pierre Bérégovoy	April 2, 1992	March 29, 1993	Socialist
Edouard Balladur	March 29, 1993	May 18, 1995	RPR
Alain Juppé	May 18, 1995	June 3, 1997	RPR
Lionel Jospin	June 3, 1997	May 6, 2002	Socialist
Jean-Pierre Raffarin	May 6, 2002	May 31, 2005	UMP
Dominique de Villepin	May 31, 2005	May 15, 2007	UMP
François Fillon	May 17, 2007	present	UMP

See also

★ Politics of France

★ Constitution of France

★ timeline of the French Revolution

★ French First Republic (1792 - 1804)

★ French Second Republic (1848 - 1852)

★ French Third Republic (1870 - 1940)

★ French Fourth Republic (1946 - 1958)