Welcome

Raphaël Hadas-Lebel

The 101 Words of Democracy Publication date : July 1, 2002

An important constitutional issue is at stake in the upcoming French elections — whatever the outcome. Will aligning the presidential term of office with that of parliamentary representatives make France slip into a presidential regime?
The considerable information provided in this book will give readers the opportunity to seriously reflect on this question, as well as on many related issues.
The book includes a detailed introduction on the French Constitution of 1958. It examines how it has been put into practice for nearly half a century, appraises its strengths and weaknesses, and examines its future. This is followed by a dictionary of 101 concepts such as “absenteeism”, “alternation”, “no-confidence vote”, “constitutional council” and “dissolution”.
Each item is developed using a threefold approach: historical, comparative (especially in relation with other European countries, with the object of furthering the discussion about a common European constitution), and cross-disciplinary (covering political sociology and history, as well as constitutional, administrative and European law).
The goal of this book is to encourage the French to like their institutions a bit better.

Raphaël Hadas-Lebel is a member of the French Council of State and teaches at Sciences Politiques.