ABSTRACT
One of the most apparent paradoxes of the French polity lies in the coexistence of rigid centralised judicial norms and rules, and a rich diversity of local and regional situations and practices. This diversity exists in spite of (or because of) the uniform presence upon the territory of metropolitan France of three levels of subnational government and administration: the commune (36,500), the departmental council (96) and the Regional council (22). Following on from the discussion of the French state in the previous chapter, here we study political and administrative decentralisation and the organisation of local and regional government. The main body of the chapter focuses upon the decentralisation reforms of the early 1980s and their lasting consequences. We also present brief commentary of a much more recent effort to deepen decentralisation, that undertaken by the Raffarin government of 2003-4. An attempt is made to formulate some conclusions in relation to the impact and consequences of the decentralisation reforms and to identify underlying continuities in French subnational administration.
