The Presidents of the French Fifth Republic

This volume brings together French and British scholars of France to analyse one of French politics' most intellectually compelling phenomena, the presidency of the republic. It examines the strengths and weaknesses of that leadership as well as the way that executive power has been established in the Fifth Republic; how presidential power and the subsequent full scale development of "personality politics" developed within an essentially party-driven, democratic and, most importantly, republican system. Hence the authors in this volume examine the phenomenon of a strong presidency in the French republican framework. The individual chapters focus on the presidency and upon the individual presidents and the way in which they have addressed their own relation to the presidencies they presided over on top of a range of other factors informing their terms of office. A conclusion sums up and appraises the contemporary role of the French presidency within the party system and the republic. The project has generated a great deal of interest in the French political studies community.

David Bell is a professor of Politics at the University of Leeds, UK.
 
John Gaffney is a professor of Politics at Aston University, UK.

Acknowledgments
Notes on Contributors
List of Abbreviations
Introduction: The Presidency in the French Fifth Republic; D.S.Bell & J.Gaffney
PART I 
Political Leadership from the Fourth to the Fifth Republic; D.Hanley
'Hyperpresidentialism' and the Fifth Republic State Imperative; J.Hayward
Ségolène Royal and Gendered Leadership in France; R.Murray
PART II

Charles de Gaulle: The Real Gaullist Settlement; J.Gaffney
Georges Pompidou: The Gaullist Heritage, and the Heritage of '68'. G.Richard (Translated by John Gaffney)
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing: The Limits of Liberalism; J.Shields
François Mitterrand: The President as 'political artist'; D.S.Bell
Jacques Chirac: Surviving without Leading; A.Knapp
Nicolas Sarkozy: 'Sarkozyism' a New Presidential Leadership; P.Perrineau
Conclusion: The Study of Political Leadership in France; D.S.Bell & J.Gaffney