ABSTRACT
How successful is the French political system, and in terms of what criteria? Some scholars have argued that the Fifth Republic has been relatively effective in policy making because the state has been so powerful that little is left to the private sector; others have suggested that the state machinery is so complex and overinstitutionalized that it has produced bottlenecks and policy immobility. 1 The streamlining of institutional relationships that the Fifth Republic brought about helped to unblock the decision-making process and, if judged in terms of policy outputs, transformed the French polity into a relatively responsive one. Policies that had been inaugurated during the Fourth Republic were elaborated and reinforced, and others were initiated. This has been apparent in the production of public goods: comprehensive medical and unemployment coverage, retirement benefits, family income supplements, student subsidies, paid vacations, a constantly modernizing transport system, and (to the extent possible in the European Union context) the protection of the interests of small-scale farmers and businesspersons. In terms of idealized expectations, many of these policies have been inadequate; yet if measured against U.S. policies, they may be considered successful. French policies in the Fifth Republic have reflected a convergence of the demands of sectors with mass memberships, powerful organizations, and electoral weight: labor, schoolteachers, war veterans, small business, and agriculture—although as the numbers in the latter three categories have decreased, so has the attention paid to them by policy makers.
