DEMOCRACY Democracy France by Samin Mohebbi Democracy is
DEMOCRACY Democracy & France by Samin Mohebbi
Democracy is a form of government in which all citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Democracy allows citizens to participate equally —either directly or through elected representatives—in the proposal, development, and creation of laws. It encompasses social, economic and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self-determination.
Karl Popper defined democracy in contrast to dictatorship or tyranny, thus focusing on opportunities for the people to control their leaders and to oust them without the need for a revolution
three fundamental principles of Democracy 1)upward control, i. e. sovereignty residing at the lowest levels of authority 2) political equality 3) social norms by which individuals and institutions only consider acceptable acts that reflect the first two principles of upward control and political equality.
A democratic government power is either held by one, as in a monarchy of a small number individuals , as in an oligarchy
Two basic forms of Democracy Direct democracy in which all citizens have direct and active participation in the decision making of the government. representative democracy In most modern democracies, the whole body of all citizens remain the sovereign power but political power is exercised indirectly through elected representatives
Type of Democracy has taken a number of forms, both in theory and practice. Some varieties of democracy provide better representation and more freedom for their citizens than others. However, if any democracy is not structured so as to prohibit the government from excluding the people from the legislative process, or any branch of government from altering the separation of powers in its own favor, then a branch of the system can accumulate too much power and destroy the democracy.
forms of Democracy Forms of Democracy Presidential Parliamentary Representative Constitutional Hybrid Direct A direct democracy gives the voting population the power to: � � � Variants Change constitutional laws, Put forth initiatives, referendums and suggestions for laws, Give binding orders to elective officials Republic Constitutional monarchy Socialist Anarchist Demarchy Consensus Supranational Non-governmental
Presidential republics 2 Parliamentary constitutional monarchies Semi-presidential republics 2 Single-party republics Absolute monarchies Military dictatorships Parliamentary constitutional monarchies in which the monarch personally exercises power Countries which do not fit any of the above systems Republics with an executive president dependent on a parliament
FRANCE : semi-presidential representative democratic republic the President of France is head of state and the Prime Minister of France is the head of government, and there is a pluriform, multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in the government, Senate and National Assembly. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.
Left Right in France and main political parties At the beginning of the 20 th century, the French Left divided itself into: The Anarchists, who were more in active in trade unions (they controlled the CGT from 1906 to 1909). Revolutionaries: the SFIO founded by Jean Jaurès, Jules Guesde etc. Reformists: the Republican, Radical and Radical. Socialist Party and non-SFIO socialists. .
The New Left (or Second Left) The Old Left was contested on its left by the New Left parties including the: Cornelius Castoriadis's Socialisme ou Barbarie from 1948 to 1965 Advocates of new social movements (including Michel Foucault, Gilles Deleuze, Pierre Bourdieu) Arlette Laguiller's Workers' Struggle The Revolutionary Communist League Others components of the New Left included the environmentalists (who would eventually found The Greens in 1982) However, the emblem of the New Left was the Unified Socialist Party, or PSU.
The Moderate Centre-Left The Radical Party, despite some ambiguities (support to Pierre Mendès-France's center-left Republican Front during the 1956 legislative elections), finally embraced economic liberalism and slid to the center-right. But in 1972, left-wing Radicals split to form the Left Radical Party
The Right The right-wing has been divided into three broad families by historian René Rémond. Legitimists Counter-revolutionaries who opposed all change since the French Revolution. Today, they are located on the far-right of the French political spectrum. These included: The ultra-royalists during the Bourbon Restoration The Action française monarchist movement The supporters of the Vichy regime's Révolution nationale The activists of the OAS during the Algerian War (1954– 1962) Most components of Jean-Marie Le Pen's National Front Philippe de Villiers' conservative Movement for France
Orleanists had rallied the Republic at the end of the 19 th century and advocated economic liberalism (referred to in French simply as libéralisme). Today, they are broadly classified as centre-right or centrist parties. These included: The right-wing of the Radical Party The Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance The Christian-democratic Popular Republican Movement (MRP) Valéry Giscard d'Estaing's Independent Republicans The Union for a French Democracy Today, a large majority of the politicians of Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling Union for a Popular Movement can be classified in this family.
Bonapartists These included: Charles de Gaulle's various parties: first the Rally of the French People, then the Union of Democrats for the Republic But also Boulangisme or Poujadisme
France : Today The Gaullist UDR was then transformed by Jacques Chirac in the Rally for the Republic (RPR) in 1976, a neo-Gaullist party which embraced economic liberalism. In 2002, the Gaullist RPR and the Union for French Democracy merged into the Union for a Popular Movement(UPM), although some elements of the old UDF remained outside the new alliance In 2007, a section of the remaining UDF, headed by François Bayrou, refused to align themselves on Nicolas Sarkozy and created the Mo. Dem in an attempt to make space for a center-right party.
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