View source for French Fifth Republic

{{Short description|Government of France since 1958}}
{{hatnote|This article describes the origins and historical development of the current French state.  For information on its organization and structure, see [[Politics of France]].}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Infobox country
| native_name            = {{native name|fr|République française}}
| conventional_long_name = French Republic
| common_name            = France
| life_span = 1958–present
| p1                     = French Fourth Republic
| flag_p1                = Flag of France.svg
| image_flag             = Flag of France.svg
| flag_type              = [[Flag of France|Flag]]
| other_symbol           = <div style="padding:0.3em">[[File:Great Seal of France.svg|100px|Obverse]] [[File:Great Seal of France (reverse).svg|100px|Reverse]]</div>
| other_symbol_type      = [[Great Seal of France|Great Seal]]:
| national_motto         = "''[[Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité]]''"
| englishmotto           = "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"
| national_anthem        = "''[[La Marseillaise]]''"<br/>{{center|[[File:La Marseillaise.ogg]]}}
| image_map              = World-EU-France.svg
| map_caption            = {{map caption |location_color=dark green |country=France |region=the [[European Union]] |region_color=green}}
| capital                = [[Paris]]
| coordinates            = {{Coord|48|51.4|N|2|21.05|E|type:city}}
| largest_city           = capital
| religion               = [[Secular State]]{{efn|Excluding Alsace-Moselle}}<br/>
In [[Concordat in Alsace-Moselle|Alsace-Moselle]]
*[[Roman Catholicism]]
*[[Calvinism]]
*[[Lutheranism]]
*[[Judaism]]
| government_type        = [[Unitary state|Unitary]] [[Semi-presidential system|semi-presidential]] [[Republic|constitutional republic]]
| title_leader           = [[President of France|President]]
| leader1                = [[Charles de Gaulle]]{{efn|[[René Coty]], the last president of the [[French Fourth Republic|Fourth Republic]], served briefly in a transitional capacity between the promulgation of the Constitution and the election of de Gaulle as the "proper" first president of the fifth Republic.}}
| leader2                = [[Emmanuel Macron]]
| year_leader1           = 1959–1969 (first)
| year_leader2           = 2017–present (current)
| title_deputy           = [[Prime Minister of France|Prime Minister]]
| deputy1                = [[Michel Debré]]
| deputy2                = [[Sébastien Lecornu]]
| year_deputy1           = 1959–1962 (first)
| year_deputy2           = {{nowrap|Sep 2025–present (current)}}
| legislature            = [[French Parliament|Parliament]]
| upper_house            = [[Senate (France)|Senate]]
| lower_house            = [[National Assembly (France)|National Assembly]]
| established_event1     = {{nowrap|[[Constitution of France|Current constitution]]}}
| established_date1      = {{nowrap|4 October 1958 {{small|({{Age|1958|10|4}} years)}}}}
| established_event2     = [[Independence of Algeria]]
| established_date2      = 5 July 1962
| established_event3     = [[1962 French presidential election referendum|Direct presidential elections]]
| established_date3      = 28 October 1962
| established_event4     = [[Decision 71-44 DC of 16 July 1971|Decision on Freedom of Association]]
| established_date4      = 16 July 1971
| established_event5     = First [[Cohabitation (government)|cohabitation]]
| established_date5      = 20 March 1986
| established_event6     = [[2000 French constitutional referendum|Presidential term reduced to five years]]
| established_date6      = 24 September 2000
| established_event7     = [[French constitutional law of 23 July 2008|2008 institutional reform]]
| established_date7      = 23 July 2008
| languages_type         = Official language<br/> {{nobold|and national language}}
| languages              = [[French language|French]]{{efn-ur|name=one|For information about regional languages see [[Languages of France]].}}
| currency               = {{unbulleted list |[[Euro]] ([[ISO 4217|EUR]]) |[[CFP franc]] (XPF)}}
| cctld                  = [[.fr]]{{efn-ur|name=ten|In addition to [[.fr]], several other Internet TLDs are used in French overseas ''départements'' and territories: [[.re]], [[.mq]], [[.gp]], [[.tf]], [[.nc]], [[.pf]], [[.wf]], [[.pm]], [[.gf]] and [[.yt]]. France also uses [[.eu]], shared with other members of the European Union. The [[.cat]] domain is used in [[Catalan Countries|Catalan-speaking territories]].}}
| calling_code           = [[Telephone numbers in France|+33]]{{efn-ur|name=eleven|The overseas regions and collectivities form part of the [[French telephone numbering plan]], but have their own country calling codes: [[Guadeloupe]] +590; [[Martinique]] +596; [[French Guiana]] +594, [[Réunion]] and [[Mayotte]] +262; [[Saint Pierre and Miquelon]] +508. The overseas territories are not part of the French telephone numbering plan; their country calling codes are: [[New Caledonia]] +687, [[French Polynesia]] +689; [[Wallis and Futuna]] +681.}}
| date_format            = dd/mm/yyyy&nbsp;([[Anno Domini|AD]])
| iso3166code            = FR
| notes                  = 
}}
{{History of France}}
The '''Fifth Republic''' ({{langx|fr|Cinquième République}}) is [[France]]'s current [[republic|republican system]] of [[government]]. It was established on 4 October 1958 by [[Charles de Gaulle]] under the [[Constitution of France|Constitution of the Fifth Republic]].<ref name="loi constitutionnelle">{{cite French law|number or usual name=constitutionnelle|date in French=3 juin 1957
|full name=portant dérogation transitoire aux dispositions de l'article 90 de la Constitution|language=French|URL=http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jopdf/common/jo_pdf.jsp?numJO=0&dateJO=19580604&numTexte=&pageDebut=05326&pageFin=}}.</ref>

The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the [[French Fourth Republic|Fourth Republic]], replacing the former [[parliamentary republic]] with a [[semi-presidential republic|semi-presidential]] (or dual-executive) system<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lessig |first=Lawrence |author-link=Lawrence Lessig |date=1993 |title=The Path of the Presidency |url=http://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=11679&context=journal_articles |journal=East European Constitutional Review |volume=Fall 1993 / Winter 1994 |issue=2/3 |page=104 |via=Chicago Unbound, University of Chicago Law School}}</ref> that split powers between a [[President of France|president]] as [[head of state]] and a [[Prime Minister of France|prime minister]] as [[head of government]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Richburg |first=Keith B. |author-link=Keith Richburg |date=25 September 2000 |title=French President's Term Cut to Five Years |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/09/25/french-presidents-term-cut-to-five-years/c988b212-2e37-4e49-818f-7a33862f32f5 |access-date=25 February 2017}}</ref> [[Charles de Gaulle]], who was the [[List of Presidents of France#French Fifth Republic (1958–present)|first French president elected under the Fifth Republic]] in December 1958, believed in a strong head of state, which he described as embodying {{lang|fr|l'esprit de la nation}} ("the spirit of the nation").<ref name="Kubicek2015">{{Cite book |last=Kubicek |first=Paul |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d9uoCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA154 |title=European Politics |publisher=Routledge |date=2015 |isbn=978-1-317-34853-5 |pages=154–156, 163}}</ref> Under the fifth republic, the president has the right to dissolve the national assembly and hold new parliamentary elections. If the president has a majority in the national assembly, the president sets domestic policy and the prime minister puts it into practice. During a presidential mandate, the president can also change prime ministers and reshuffle the government. If there is a different majority in the national assembly, the president is forced to nominate a prime minister from a different party, which is called a ''cohabitation''. In the beginning of the Fifth Republic, presidential elections were held every seventh year and parliamentary elections every fifth year. Starting in the year 2002, the [[Presidential elections in France|presidential elections (in April)]] and [[Legislative_elections_in_France#Fifth_Republic|parliamentary elections (in June)]] were synchronized to be held every fifth year, which ended in the [[2024 French legislative election|2024 French snap election]].

The Fifth Republic is France's third-longest-lasting political regime, after the [[hereditary monarchy|hereditary]], [[feudal monarchy]] of the [[Ancien Régime]] and the parliamentary [[French Third Republic|Third Republic]] ([[French Third Republic|4 September 1870]]–[[French Constitutional Law of 1940|10 July 1940]]).

== Origins ==

=== Instability of the Fourth Republic ===
{{Main|French Fourth Republic}}

The [[French Fourth Republic|Fourth Republic]] had suffered from a lack of political consensus, a weak executive, and governments forming and falling in quick succession since 1946. With no party or coalition able to sustain a parliamentary majority, prime ministers found themselves unable to risk their political position with unpopular reforms.<ref>Philip M. Williams, ''Crisis and Compromise: Politics in the Fourth Republic'' (1958)</ref>{{page needed|date=October 2020}}

[[File:Colonization 1945 Spanish script.png|thumb|right|400px|France and its colonial empire (shown in blue)]]

=== May 1958 crisis ===
{{Main|May 1958 crisis in France}}

The trigger for the collapse of the [[French Fourth Republic]] was the [[May 1958 crisis in France|Algiers crisis of 1958]]. France was still a [[colonialism|colonial]] power, although conflict and revolt had begun the process of [[decolonization]]. [[French West Africa]], [[French Indochina]], and [[French Algeria]] still sent representatives to the French parliament under systems of limited suffrage in the [[French Union]]. Algeria in particular, despite being the colony with the largest French population, saw rising pressure for separation from [[Metropolitan France]]. The situation was complicated by those in Algeria, such as [[Pied-Noir|European settlers]], native [[Algerian Jews|Jews]], and [[Harkis]] (native Muslims who were loyal to France), who wanted to maintain the union with France. The [[Algerian War]] was not just a [[Separatism|separatist]] movement but had elements of a [[civil war]]. 

Further complications came when a section of the [[French Army]] rebelled and openly backed the {{Lang|fr|[[Algérie française]]}} movement to defeat separation.<ref>John E. Talbott, ''The War Without a Name: France in Algeria, 1954–1962'' (1980).</ref>{{page needed|date=October 2020}} [[Charles de Gaulle]], who had retired from politics a decade before, placed himself in the midst of the crisis, calling on the nation to suspend the government and create a new constitutional system. The parliament was unable to choose a government amid popular protest, and De Gaulle was carried to power when the last parliament of the Fourth Republic voted for its own dissolution and the convening of a constitutional convention.<ref>Jonathan Fenby, ''The General: Charles de Gaulle and the France He Saved'' (2010) pp 375–408.</ref>

=== Transitional period ===

De Gaulle and his supporters proposed a system of strong [[President of France|president]]s elected for seven-year terms. The president, under the proposed constitution, would have executive powers to run the country in consultation with a [[Prime Minister of France|prime minister]] whom he would appoint. On 1 June 1958, Charles de Gaulle was appointed [[Head of government|head of the government]];<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jopdf/common/jo_pdf.jsp?numJO=0&dateJO=19580602&numTexte=&pageDebut=05279&pageFin=|title=Fac-similé JO du 02/06/1958, page 05279 – Legifrance|website=www.legifrance.gouv.fr}}</ref> on 3 June 1958, a constitutional law empowered the new government to draft a new [[constitution of France]],<ref name="loi constitutionnelle"/> and another law granted Charles de Gaulle and his cabinet the power to [[rule by decree]] for up to six months, except on matters of criminal law, electoral law, matters related to the basic rights and freedoms of citizens, and the activities of trade unions.<ref>{{cite French law|number or usual name=n<sup>o</sup> 58–520|date in French=3 juin 1958|full name=relative aux pleins pouvoirs|language=French|URL=http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jopdf/common/jo_pdf.jsp?numJO=0&dateJO=19580604&numTexte=&pageDebut=05327&pageFin=}}.</ref> These plans were approved by more than 80% of those who voted in [[1958 French constitutional referendum|the referendum of 28 September 1958]].<ref>[http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jopdf/common/jo_pdf.jsp?numJO=0&dateJO=19581005&numTexte=&pageDebut=09177&pageFin= Proclamation] des résultats des votes émis par le peuple français à l'occasion de sa consultation par voie de référendum, le 28 septembre 1958</ref> The new constitution was signed into law on 4 October 1958.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jopdf/common/jo_pdf.jsp?numJO=0&dateJO=19581005&pageDebut=09151 |title=Constitution |work=[[Journal Officiel de la République Française]] |date=5 October 1958 |via=Légifrance |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603011239/https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jo_pdf.do?numJO=0&dateJO=19581005&pageDebut=09151 |archive-date= Jun 3, 2020 }}</ref> Since each new constitution established a new republic, France moved from the Fourth to the Fifth Republic.

=== 1958 constitution ===
{{Main|Constitution of France}}

The new constitution contained transitional clauses (articles 90–92) extending the period of rule by decree until the new institutions were operating. [[René Coty]] remained president of the Republic until the new president was proclaimed. On 21 December 1958, Charles de Gaulle was elected [[president of France]] by an [[electoral college]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jopdf/common/jo_pdf.jsp?numJO=0&dateJO=19590109&numTexte=&pageDebut=00673&pageFin=|title=Fac-similé JO du 09/01/1959, page 00673 – Legifrance|website=www.legifrance.gouv.fr}}</ref> The provisional constitutional commission, acting in lieu of the [[Constitutional Council (France)|constitutional council]], proclaimed the results of the election on 9 January 1959. The new president began his office on that date, appointing [[Michel Debré]] as prime minister.

The 1958 constitution also replaced the French Union with the [[French Community]], which allowed fourteen member territories (excluding Algeria) to assert their independence.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Cooper | first1 = Frederick | title = Possibility and Constraint: African Independence in Historical Perspective | doi = 10.1017/S0021853708003915 | journal = Journal of African History | volume = 49 | issue = 2| pages = 167–196|url=http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=2300612| date = July 2008 | s2cid = 145273499 | url-access = subscription }}</ref> 1960 became known as the "[[Year of Africa]]" because of this wave of newly independent states.<ref>Abayomi Azikiwe, "[http://panafricannews.blogspot.com/2010/04/50th-anniversary-of-of-africa-1960.html 50th Anniversary of the 'Year of Africa' 1960]", ''Pan-African News Wire'', 21 April 2010.</ref> [[Algeria]] became independent on 5 July 1962.

== Evolution ==

=== Election of the president ===

The president was initially elected by an electoral college but in 1962 de Gaulle proposed that the president be directly elected by the citizens and held a referendum on the change. Although the method and intent of de Gaulle in that referendum were contested by most political groups except for the [[Gaullism|Gaullists]], the change was approved by the French electorate.<ref>Constitutional Council, [http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/conseil-constitutionnel/francais/les-decisions/depuis-1958/decisions-par-date/1962/resultats-referendum-octobre-1962/decision-resultats-referendum-octobre-1962-du-06-novembre-1962.6422.html Proclamation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120221232406/http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/conseil-constitutionnel/francais/les-decisions/depuis-1958/decisions-par-date/1962/resultats-referendum-octobre-1962/decision-resultats-referendum-octobre-1962-du-06-novembre-1962.6422.html |date=21 February 2012 }} of the results of the 28 October 1962 referendum on the bill related to the election of the President of the Republic by universal suffrage</ref> The Constitutional Council declined to rule on the constitutionality of the referendum.<ref>Constitutional Council, [http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/conseil-constitutionnel/francais/les-decisions/depuis-1958/decisions-par-date/1962/62-20-dc/decision-n-62-20-dc-du-06-novembre-1962.6398.html Decision 62-20 DC] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510064946/http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/conseil-constitutionnel/francais/les-decisions/depuis-1958/decisions-par-date/1962/62-20-dc/decision-n-62-20-dc-du-06-novembre-1962.6398.html |date=10 May 2013 }} of 6 November 1962</ref>

The president is now elected every five years, changed from seven by [[2000 French constitutional referendum|a constitutional referendum in 2000]], to reduce the probability of [[Cohabitation (government)|cohabitation]] due to former differences in the length of terms for the [[National Assembly (France)|National Assembly]] and presidency. The president is elected in [[Two-round system|one or two rounds of voting]]: if one candidate gets a majority of votes in the first round that person is president-elect; if no one gets a [[majority]] in the first round, the two candidates with the greatest number of votes go to a second round.

=== Separation of powers ===

Two major changes occurred in the 1970s regarding constitutional [[Separation of powers#Checks and balances|checks and balances]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Morton |first=F. L. |date=Winter 1988 |title=Judicial Review in France: A Comparative Analysis |journal=American Journal of Comparative Law |volume=36 |issue=1 |doi=10.2307/840185 |jstor=840185 |pages=89–110}}</ref> Traditionally, France operated according to [[Parliamentary sovereignty|parliamentary supremacy]]: no authority was empowered to rule on whether statutes passed by Parliament respected the constitutional rights of the citizens.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Letourneur |first1=M. |last2=Drago |first2=R. |date=Spring 1958 |title=The Rule of Law as Understood in France |journal=The American Journal of Comparative Law |volume=7 |issue=2 |doi=10.2307/837562 |jstor=837562 |pages=147–177}}</ref> In 1971, however, the [[Constitutional Council (France)|Constitutional Council]], arguing that the [[preamble]] of the constitution referenced the rights defined in the 1789 [[Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen]] and the preamble of the 1946 constitution, concluded that statutes must respect these rights and so declared partially unconstitutional a statute because it violated [[freedom of association]].<ref>Constitutional Council, [http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/conseil-constitutionnel/francais/les-decisions/depuis-1958/decisions-par-date/1971/71-44-dc/decision-n-71-44-dc-du-16-juillet-1971.7217.html Decision 71-44 DC] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510051424/http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/conseil-constitutionnel/francais/les-decisions/depuis-1958/decisions-par-date/1971/71-44-dc/decision-n-71-44-dc-du-16-juillet-1971.7217.html |date=10 May 2013 }} of 16 July 1971</ref> 

Only the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, or the president of either house of Parliament could ask for a constitutional review {{Emphasis|before}} a statute was signed into law—which greatly reduces the likelihood of such a review if all these officeholders happened to be from the same side of politics, which was the case at the time. Then in 1974, a [[Constitutional amendments under the French Fifth Republic#1974: Reform of the method of referral to the Constitutional Council|constitutional amendment]] widened this prerogative to 60 members of the [[National Assembly (France)|National Assembly]] or 60 members of the [[Senate (France)|senate]].<ref>{{cite French law|number or usual name=constitutionnelle n<sup>o</sup> 74-904|date in French=29 octobre 1974|full name=portant révision de l'article 61 de la Constitution|language=French|URL=http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jopdf/common/jo_pdf.jsp?numJO=0&dateJO=19741030&numTexte=&pageDebut=11035&pageFin=}}.</ref> From that date, the opposition has been able to have controversial new statutes examined for constitutionality.<ref>[[:fr:Alain Lancelot|Alain Lancelot]], ''[http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/conseil-constitutionnel/root/bank_mm/pdf/Conseil/reforme_1974.pdf La réforme de 1974, avancée libéral ou progrès de la démocratie ?]''</ref>

== Presidents of the Fifth Republic ==
{{Main|List of presidents of France#French Fifth Republic (1958–present)}}

{{legend2|pink|Socialist ([[Socialist Party (France)|PS]])|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
{{legend2|{{party color|Democratic Centre (France)}}|Centrist ([[Democratic Centre (France)|CD]])|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
{{legend2|{{party color|La République En Marche!}}|Centrist ([[La République En Marche!|REM]])|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
{{legend2|lightblue|Republican ([[Union for French Democracy|UDF]])|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
{{legend2|#1E90FF|[[Gaullism|Gaullist]] ([[Union of Democrats for the Republic|UDR]]; [[Rally for the Republic|RPR]])|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
{{legend2|#6495ED|Neo-Gaullist ([[Union for a Popular Movement|UMP]])|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}

{| class="wikitable"
|- style="background:#efefef;"
! No.
! President
! Lived
! from
! to
! colspan="2" | Party
|- 
| 1
| [[Charles de Gaulle]]
| 1890–1970 
| 8 January 1959
| 28 April 1969 (resigned)
| style="width: 4px; background:#1E90FF"|
|''[[Independent politician|Independent]]''
|- 
| align=center| –
| [[Alain Poher]]
| 1909–1996
| 28 April 1969
| 15 June 1969 (''interim'')
| style="background:{{party color|Democratic Centre (France)}}"|
| [[Democratic Centre (France)|CD]]
|- 
| 2 
|[[Georges Pompidou]]
| 1911–1974
| 15 June 1969
| 2 April 1974 (died in office)
| style="background:#1E90FF" |
| [[Union of Democrats for the Republic|UDR]]
|- 
| align=center| – 
| [[Alain Poher]]
| 1909–1996
| 2 April 1974
| 19 May 1974 (''interim'')
| style="background:{{party color|Democratic Centre (France)}}" |
| [[Democratic Centre (France)|CD]]
|- 
| 3
|[[Valéry Giscard d'Estaing]]
| 1926–2020
| 19 May 1974
| 21 May 1981
| bgcolor=lightblue |
| [[Union for French Democracy|UDF]]
|- 
| 4
|[[François Mitterrand]]
| 1916–1996
| 21 May 1981
| 17 May 1995
| style="background:pink" |
| [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist]]
|- 
| 5
|[[Jacques Chirac]]
| 1932–2019 
| 17 May 1995
| 16 May 2007
| bgcolor=#6495ED |
| [[Rally for the Republic|RPR]] then [[Union for a Popular Movement|UMP]]
|- 
| 6
|[[Nicolas Sarkozy]]
| b. 1955
| 16 May 2007
| 15 May 2012
| bgcolor=#6495ED |
| [[Union for a Popular Movement|UMP]]
|- 
| 7
|[[François Hollande]]
| b. 1954
| 15 May 2012
|14 May 2017
| style="background:pink" |
| [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist]]
|- 
| 8
|[[Emmanuel Macron]]
|b. 1977
|14 May 2017
|''Incumbent''
| style="background:{{party color|La République En Marche!}}" |
|[[La République En Marche!|REM]]
|}
Source: {{cite web |url=http://www.elysee.fr/la-presidence/les-presidents-de-la-republique-depuis-1848/ |title=Les présidents de la République depuis 1848 |trans-title=Presidents of the Republic Since 1848 |publisher=Présidence de la République française |language=fr}}

==President image gallery==
<gallery>
File:Bundesarchiv B 145 Bild-F010324-0002, Flughafen Köln-Bonn, Adenauer, de Gaulle-cropped.jpg|'''[[Charles de Gaulle]]'''<br />(1890–1970)<br />Served 1959–1969
File:23.04.1969. A Poher. (1969) - 53Fi3443 (cropped).jpg|'''[[Alain Poher]]'''<br />(1909–1996)<br />Served 1969, 1974 (as ''interim'')
File:Georges Pompidou (cropped 2).jpg|'''[[Georges Pompidou]]'''<br />(1911–1974)<br />Served 1969–1974
File:Valéry Giscard d’Estaing 1978(2).jpg|'''[[Valéry Giscard d'Estaing]]'''<br />(1926–2020)<br />Served 1974–1981
File:President Mitterand bij slotzitting Europa Congres Mitterand, kop, Bestanddeelnr 934-2444 (portrait crop).jpg|'''[[François Mitterrand]]'''<br />(1916–1996)<br />Served 1981–1995
File:ChiracUSA.jpg|'''[[Jacques Chirac]]'''<br />(1932–2019)<br />Served 1995–2007
File:Flickr - europeanpeoplesparty - EPP Summit October 2010 (105).jpg|'''[[Nicolas Sarkozy]]'''<br />(b. 1955)<br />Served 2007–2012
File:Francois Hollande 2015.jpeg|'''[[François Hollande]]'''<br/>(b. 1954)<br />Served 2012–2017
File:Emmanuel Macron (cropped).jpg|'''[[Emmanuel Macron]]'''<br />(b. 1977)<br />Incumbent since May 2017
</gallery>

== Prime Ministers of the Fifth Republic ==
{{main|List of Prime Ministers of France#Fifth French Republic (1958–present)}}
[[File:François Bayrou (Législatives 2024).jpg|thumb|263x263px|Prime minister [[François Bayrou]] of the [[Democratic Movement (France)|Democratic Movement]]]]
{{legend2|pink|Socialist ([[Socialist Party (France)|PS]])|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
{{legend2|{{party color|La République En Marche!}}|Centrist ([[Renaissance (French political party)|RE]])|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
{{legend2|lightblue|Republican ([[Union for French Democracy|UDF]])|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
{{legend2|#1E90FF|[[Gaullism|Gaullist]] ([[Union for the New Republic (France)|UNR]]; [[Union of Democrats for the Republic|UDR]]; [[Rally for the Republic|RPR]])|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
{{legend2|#6495ED|Neo-Gaullist ([[Union for a Popular Movement|UMP]]; [[Les Républicains|LR]])|border=1px solid #AAAAAA}}
{| class="wikitable"
|- 
! Name
! Term start
! Term end
! colspan="2" | Political party
! colspan="2" | President
|- 
| [[Michel Debré]]
| 8 January 1959
| 14 April 1962
| [[Union for the New Republic (France)|UNR]]
| bgcolor=#1E90FF |
| rowspan="3" bgcolor=#1E90FF |
| align="center" rowspan="3" | [[Charles de Gaulle]]<br/><small>(1959–1969)</small>
|- 
| [[Georges Pompidou]]
| 14 April 1962
| 10 July 1968
| [[Union for the New Republic (France)|UNR]] then [[Union of Democrats for the Republic|UDR]]
| bgcolor=#1E90FF |
|- 
| [[Maurice Couve de Murville]]
| 10 July 1968
| 20 June 1969
| [[Union of Democrats for the Republic|UDR]] 
| bgcolor=#1E90FF |
|- 
| [[Jacques Chaban-Delmas]]
| 20 June 1969
| 6 July 1972
| [[Union of Democrats for the Republic|UDR]]
| bgcolor=#1E90FF |
| rowspan="2" bgcolor=#1E90FF |
| align="center" rowspan="2" | [[Georges Pompidou]]<br/><small>(1969–1974)</small>
|- 
| [[Pierre Messmer]]
| 6 July 1972
| 27 May 1974
| [[Union of Democrats for the Republic|UDR]] 
| bgcolor=#1E90FF |
|- 
| [[Jacques Chirac]] (1st term)
| 27 May 1974
| 26 August 1976
| [[Union of Democrats for the Republic|UDR]] 
| bgcolor=#1E90FF |
| rowspan="2" bgcolor=lightblue |
| align="center" rowspan="2" | [[Valéry Giscard d'Estaing]]<br/><small>(1974–1981)</small>
|- 
| [[Raymond Barre]]
| 26 August 1976
| 21 May 1981
| ''[[Independent politician|Independent]]''
| bgcolor=lightblue |
|- 
| [[Pierre Mauroy]]
| 21 May 1981
| 17 July 1984
| [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist]] 
| bgcolor=pink |
| rowspan="7" bgcolor=pink |
| align="center" rowspan="7" |[[François Mitterrand]]<br/><small>(1981–1995)</small>
|- 
| [[Laurent Fabius]]
| 17 July 1984
| 20 March 1986
| [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist]] 
| bgcolor=pink |
|- 
| [[Jacques Chirac]] (2nd term)
| 20 March 1986
| 10 May 1988
| [[Rally for the Republic|RPR]]
| bgcolor=#1E90FF |
|- 
| [[Michel Rocard]]
| 10 May 1988
| 15 May 1991
| [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist]] 
| bgcolor=pink |
|- 
| [[Édith Cresson]]
| 15 May 1991
| 2 April 1992
| [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist]] 
| bgcolor=pink |
|- 
| [[Pierre Bérégovoy]]
| 2 April 1992
| 29 March 1993
| [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist]]
| bgcolor=pink |
|- 
| [[Édouard Balladur]]
| 29 March 1993
| 18 May 1995
| [[Rally for the Republic|RPR]]
| bgcolor=#1E90FF |
|- 
| [[Alain Juppé]]
| 18 May 1995
| 3 June 1997
| [[Rally for the Republic|RPR]]
| bgcolor=#1E90FF |
| rowspan="4" bgcolor=#6495ED|
| align="center" rowspan="4" | [[Jacques Chirac]]<br/><small>(1995–2007)</small>
|- 
| [[Lionel Jospin]]
| 3 June 1997
| 6 May 2002
| [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist]]
| bgcolor=pink |
|- 
| [[Jean-Pierre Raffarin]]
| 6 May 2002
| 31 May 2005
| [[Union for a Popular Movement|UMP]]
| bgcolor=#6495ED |
|- 
| [[Dominique de Villepin]]
| 31 May 2005
| 17 May 2007
| [[Union for a Popular Movement|UMP]]
| bgcolor=#6495ED |
|- 
| [[François Fillon]]
| 17 May 2007
| 15 May 2012
| [[Union for a Popular Movement|UMP]]
| bgcolor=#6495ED |
| bgcolor=#6495ED |
| align="center" rowspan="1"|[[Nicolas Sarkozy]]<br/><small>(2007–2012)</small>
|- 
| [[Jean-Marc Ayrault]]
| 15 May 2012
| 31 March 2014
| [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist]]
| bgcolor=pink |
| rowspan="3" bgcolor=pink|
| align="center" rowspan="3"|[[François Hollande]]<br/><small>(2012–2017)</small>
|- 
| [[Manuel Valls]]
| 31 March 2014
| 6 December 2016
| [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist]]
| bgcolor=pink |
|- 
| [[Bernard Cazeneuve]]
| 6 December 2016
| 10 May 2017
| [[Socialist Party (France)|Socialist]]
| bgcolor=pink |
|- 
| [[Édouard Philippe]]
| 15 May 2017
| 3 July 2020
| [[Les Républicains|LR]] then <br />''[[Independent politician|Independent]]''
| bgcolor=#6495ED |
| rowspan="7" bgcolor="#FFE25A" |
| rowspan="7" align="center" | [[Emmanuel Macron]]<br/><small>(since 2017)</small>
|-
| [[Jean Castex]]
| 3 July 2020
| 16 May 2022
| [[Renaissance (French political party)|RE]]
| style="background:{{party color|La République En Marche!}}" |
|-
| [[Élisabeth Borne]]
| 16 May 2022
| 9 January 2024
| [[Renaissance (French political party)|RE]]
| style="background:{{party color|La République En Marche!}}" |
|-
| [[Gabriel Attal]]
| 9 January 2024
| 5 September 2024
| [[Renaissance (French political party)|RE]]
| style="background:{{party color|La République En Marche!}}" |
|-
| [[Michel Barnier]]
| 5 September 2024
| 13 December 2024
| [[Les Républicains|LR]]
| bgcolor=#6495ED |
|-
| [[François Bayrou]]
| 13 December 2024
| 9 September 2025
| [[Democratic Movement (France)|MoDem]]
| bgcolor=#EF5327 |
|-
| [[Sébastien Lecornu]]
| 9 September 2025
| TBD{{efn|As of October 6, 2025, Lecornu is still serving as prime minister in a demissionary capacity despite announcing his resignation.}}
| [[Renaissance (French political party)|RE]]
| style="background:{{party color|La République En Marche!}}" |
|}
Source: {{cite web |url=https://www.gouvernement.fr/en/former-prime-ministers-of-the-fifth-republic |title=Former Prime Ministers of the Fifth Republic |publisher=Government of France}}

==Institutions of the Fifth Republic==
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2022}}
[[File:Institutions of the Fifth Republic.svg|thumb|center|800px|{{center|Institutions of the Fifth Republic}}]]

== Timeline diagram ==
[[File:Chronologie constitutions françaises.svg|910px]]

== See also ==
*[[1958 Guinean constitutional referendum]]
*[[French colonial empire]]
*[[List of French possessions and colonies]]
*[[Politics of France]]
*[[Republican Front (French Fifth Republic)]]
*[[Proposed French Sixth Republic]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=upper-roman}}
{{reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{More|Charles de Gaulle#Further reading}}
* Atkin, Nicholas. ''The Fifth French Republic'' (European History in Perspective) (2005) [https://www.amazon.com/French-Republic-European-History-Perspective/dp/0333650573/  excerpt and text search]
* Bell, David S. and John Gaffney, eds. ''The Presidents of the French Fifth Republic'' ([[Palgrave Macmillan]], 2013)
* Bell,David, et al. ''A Biographical Dictionary of French Political Leaders since 1870'' (1990)
* Bell, David S., and Byron Criddle. ''Exceptional Socialists: The Case of the French Socialist Party'' (2014) 
* Berstein, Serge, and Jean-Pierre Rioux. ''The Pompidou Years, 1969–1974'' (The Cambridge History of Modern France) (2000) [https://www.amazon.com/Pompidou-1969-1974-Cambridge-History-Modern/dp/0521580617/ excerpt]
* Brouard, Sylvain et al. ''The French Fifth Republic at Fifty: Beyond Stereotypes'' (French Politics, Society and Culture) (2009)
* Chabal, Emile, ed. ''France since the 1970s: History, Politics and Memory in an Age of Uncertainty'' (2015) [https://www.amazon.com/France-since-1970s-Politics-Uncertainty/dp/1472509773/  Excerpt]
* Cole, Alistair. ''François Mitterrand: A study in political leadership'' (1994)
* Corbett, Anne, and Bob Moon, eds. ''Education in France: continuity and change in the Mitterrand years 1981–1995'' (Routledge, 2002)
* Fenby, Jonathan ''The General: Charles de Gaulle and the France He Saved'' (2010) pp.&nbsp;375–635.
* Fenby, Jonathan ''France: A Modern History from the Revolution to the War with Terror'' (2016) pp.&nbsp;359–484
* Gaffney, John. ''France in the Hollande presidency: The unhappy republic'' (Springer, 2015).
* Gaffney, John. ''Political Leadership in France. From Charles de Gaulle to Nicolas Sarkozy'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010)
* {{cite journal | last1 = Gaffney | first1 = John | year = 2012 | title = Leadership and Style in the French Fifth Republic: Nicolas Sarkozy's Presidency in Historical and Cultural Perspective |url=http://publications.aston.ac.uk/19947/1/Leadership_and_style_in_the_French_Fifth_Republic.pdf| journal = French Politics | volume = 10 | issue = 4| pages = 345–363 | doi=10.1057/fp.2012.18| s2cid = 143199648 }}
* Jackson, Julian. ''De Gaulle'' (2018) 887pp; the most recent major biography
* Kuhn, Raymond. "Mister unpopular: François Hollande and the exercise of presidential leadership, 2012–14." ''Modern & Contemporary France'' 22.4 (2014): 435–457. [https://qmro.qmul.ac.uk/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/7840/Khun%20Mister%20unpopular%20Fran%C3%A7ois%202014%20Accepted.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y online]
* Kulski, W. W. ''De Gaulle and the World: The Foreign Policy of the Fifth French Republic'' (1966) [https://archive.org/details/degaulleworld00kuls online free to borrow]
* Lewis-Beck, Michael S., et al. eds. ''French Presidential Elections'' (Palgrave Macmillan; 2012)
* Nester, William R. ''De Gaulle's Legacy: The Art of Power in France's Fifth Republic'' (2014)
* Praud, Jocelyne and Sandrine Dauphin, eds. ''Parity Democracy: Women's Political Representation in Fifth Republic France'' (2011)
* Raymond, Gino G., ''The French Communist Party During Fifth Republic: A Crisis of Leadership and Ideology.'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005)
* Rogoff, Martin A. ''French Constitutional Law: Cases and Materials'' (Durham, Carolina Academic Press, 2010.
* Short, Philip. ''Mitterrand: A Study in Ambiguity'' (2013)
* [[Philip Thody|Thody, Philip]]. ''The Fifth French Republic: Presidents, Politics and Personalities: A Study of French Political Culture'' (1998) [https://www.amazon.com/Fifth-French-Republic-Presidents-Personalities/dp/0415187532/  excerpt and text search]
* Wall, Irwin. ''France Votes: The Election of François Hollande'' (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.)
* Williams, Charles. ''The Last Great Frenchman: A Life of General De Gaulle'' (1997)

; In French
* {{cite book |last1=Chevallier |first1=Jean-Jacques |author-link=Jean-Jacques Chevallier |author2=Guy Carcassonne |author3=Olivier Duhamel  |title=Histoire de la V<sup>e</sup> République: 1958–2017 |edition=16th |year=2017 |publisher=Dalloz |location=Paris |language = fr |isbn = 978-2247169221 }}
* {{cite book |last=Mayaffre |first=Damon |author-link=Damon Mayaffre|date=2012 |title= Le Discours présidentiel sous la Ve République. Chirac, Mitterrand, Giscard, Pompidou, de Gaulle |trans-title= |url= |language=French |location=Paris |publisher=Presses de [[Sciences Po]] |isbn=978-2724612448}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|French Fifth Republic|<br />French Fifth Republic}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140927022227/http://www.conseil-constitutionnel.fr/conseil-constitutionnel/english/constitution/constitution-of-4-october-1958.25742.html LegiFrance: French Constitution of 1958] {{in lang|en}}

{{France topics|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}

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