ABSTRACT

The parliamentary party groups in France (groupes parlementaires, PPGs) were officially recognised in a resolution of 1 July 1910. The statutes of the assemblies made provisions to regulate the composition of parliamentary commissions by reference to the division into parliamentary groups. Thus, their creation was indirect (Waline 1960). This recognition reflects the tendency of French political culture to reject parties and groups as factors of division. In France, the political parties have very often been considered particular groups, contravening the principle that the deputies represent the nation as a whole (Avril and Gicquel 1988). However, the parliamentary groups were not a pure and simple expression of political parties. They constituted a true parliamentary reality, as distinct from partisan reality. The Socialist Party (Section Française de l’Internationale Ouvrière-SFIO) was the only party where the labels of the parliamentary party group and the party-as-a-whole corresponded completely (Mayeur 1984). Notwithstanding the recognition of the PPGs, the French parliament was characterised for many years by the individual and undisciplined behaviour of MPs, which gave it an archaic character up until 1958. The constitution of 1958 did not mention PPGs, but it was the first French constitution to recognise political parties (Article 4) (Avril and Gicquel 1988).