ABSTRACT
The election in March 1986 marks the end of an era. For five years, France has been governed by a party from the Left and a president whose very political career has epitomized the transformation of the Socialists from an opposition to a governing party. The Socialist government did leave a distinctive legacy. The new government elected in March 1986 will have to deal with the Socialist legacy and to address the problems of security policy that the Socialists left behind. The new government has several basic options in dealing with the budget problem. First, it could increase defense spending in line with pledges made by some conservatives. Second, the new government could stretch out some of the defense programs, an approach that governments before it have certainly followed. The Socialist government passed a five-year planning document in 1983, which laid out a significant modernization program.
