ABSTRACT
The fundamental policy and constitutional transformations initiated by de Gaulle after his June 1958 return to power strikingly echoed many top-down German reforms enacted ten years earlier in similar extra-constitutional circumstances. A new constitution was swiftly written outside of public scrutiny, and resoundingly endorsed by referendum. Parliament was curtailed and the executive branch was considerably strengthened, allowing for the emergence of a majoritarian political system. Before de Gaulle’s special powers lapsed, a shock reform package was passed amidst broad political and social opposition. The plan reined in credit issuance, cancelled inflationary price indexation mechanisms, and met the trade liberalisation commitments of the Common Market. De Gaulle assumed personal responsibility in direct broadcasts to citizens. In what was called a ‘technocracy’, policy conception was taken away from low resource, low competence parliamentarians, and shouldered by skilled civil servants in ministerial kitchen cabinets. Non-elected high-grade bureaucrats were appointed ministers, and the direction of the flow of ideas between state and social groups was reversed. The new government passed its stress test during the 1963–64 economic slowdown, which produced none of the dramatic consequences of the 1950s episodes.
