ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how the “transitory formula” has evolved and explains how it has affected patterns of policymaking in France. It utilizes published and unpublished statistics compiled by officials of the French parliament along with other sources, illustrates how and why the new regime has restructured traditional patterns of policymaking. The chapter examines the extent to which the constitutional weapons of the Fifth Republic have succeeded in producing the sort of strong governments envisioned by the founders. It discusses the patterns of policymaking produced by the government-dominated legislative process and explains why strong government has not always assured effective government in the Fifth Republic. The chapter describes the efforts made since 1988 to cure the malaise by injecting a measure of “modesty” into the Fifth Republic’s culture of governance. In the Fourth Republic, where “major reforms could pass only in a major crisis,” the focus of most governments was on mere survival.
