France: The Regime of a Savior
SCHAPIRO, J. SALWYN
France: The Regime of a Savior France, Steadfast and Changing. By Raymond Aron. Harvard. 197 pp. $4.75. De Gaulle's Republic. By Philip M. Williams and Martin Harrison. Longmans. 279 pp....
...Thus far his record as President has been highly commendable...
...He prevented an upsurge of militarism by keeping the Army under civil control...
...As the essence of dictatorship is government not of laws but of men, how can de Gaulle be a dictator "in conformity with law...
...received 17.6 per cent of the popular vote and elected 188 representatives...
...But this is not likely in France, where deep divisions in society have existed since the French Revolution...
...Though an ardent nationalist he has been a stout supporter of the European Economic Community...
...Having contact with those who make laws and formulate policies, Aron is exceedingly well informed on public affairs of current interest...
...Under the four previous Republics, Parliament had exercised supreme power, yet lacked a "cohesive and lasting majority...
...This contradiction, in my opinion, is made plausible in the following ways...
...A man of decision rather than a man of action, he gives the final word, which is translated into action by his faithful disciples, able, hard-boiled, determined young men, the most notable of whom is Premier Michel Debre...
...Because of the gross unfairness of the electoral law some of the parties were under-represented and others over-represented...
...and, of course, de Gaulle...
...Hence the regime "faces two dangers: the totalitarian threat, and relapse into the old ways...
...De Gaulle has won universal esteem as a high-minded, able, far-seeing statesman...
...They devised a political system that has all the outward and visible signs of a complete democracy: a National Assembly, freely elected by universal suffrage...
...constitutional guarantees of civil rights: separation of powers...
...As a consequence Aron's writings have a disjointed clarity which is always stimulating, but not always enlightening...
...Its fundamental cause, according to Aron, has been the lack of "organized, disciplined parties capable of making long-term agreements...
...De Gaulle's decisions are motivated not by desire for personal aggrandizement but by a mystical belief that he is the incarnation of the spirit of France...
...As a consequence a "national emergency . . . automatically caused a constitutional crisis" that led to the overthrow of the regime: this is what happened to the Fourth Republic when it was unable to solve the Algerian problem...
...The British authors are especially effective in their criticism of the Fourth Republic and their evaluation of the Fifth Republic...
...He quotes de Tocqueville to the effect that the French always remain constant in their fundamental impulses...
...For all that, the Fifth Republic is a dictatorship under the rule of President Charles de Gaulle, who is "responsible to no one but history...
...Because the parties in the National Assembly do not fairly represent the electorate, they do not function as before: the classical dualism of Left and Right in the politics of France has disappeared...
...The advance has been chiefly in the newer sectors, such as automobiles, aviation and electronics...
...If Frenchmen have remained the same, France is different...
...A new electoral law was devised so that its application would produce a National Assembly which would cooperate with de Gaulle...
...Williams and Harrison, is a detailed account of events and personalities...
...Aron's book is largely a commentary, while that of the British historians...
...As a consequence of increased production, real wages of French workers have risen markedly, and now compare favorably with the wages of British and West German workers...
...and ministerial responsibility...
...Productivity per worker is now higher in France than in West Germany...
...assert the British authors, "only the emergence of a coherent majority party or coalition can create stability...
...The source of all political power is President de Gaulle, who decides what laws are to be passed and what men are to be in the ministry...
...The President of the Fifth Republic is a phenomenon new in the annals of French politics...
...In the long term...
...The Fifth Republic, in Aron's view, is "the regime of a savior acclaimed by almost the entire nation in the hope that he may find a solution to apparently insoluble problems...
...He has cooperated with Chancellor Adenauer in cementing friendly relations between France and West Germany, his country's historic enemy...
...According to Williams and Harrison, the Fifth Republic is "a benevolent despotism partially tempered by republican democracy...
...According to Aron, de Gaulle "is, and wants to be, the dictator who, in conformity with law, exercises absolute power and reforms the institutions of the Republic...
...It has the right to overthrow a ministry, but the restrictions on the exercise of this right make it virtually nonexistent...
...The Socialists and Communists together received 34.4 per cent of the popular vote and elected 50 representatives...
...Readily acquiescing to the wishes of the African members, he recently formulated a law that transformed the French Community from a tight association of autonomous states to a loose association of independent nations resembling the British Commonwealth...
...Since the war industrial progress has been almost as notable in France as in West Germany and Britain...
...Their book is based on sound scholarship and on a keen understanding of the political scene in France...
...Well, he is "steadfast" in upholding the French tradition of his class, which is to support the extreme Left whatever it is...
...He suppressed an uprising against the Republic by those who had put him in power...
...In contrast to Williams and Harrison, Aron is a scholarly journalist whose books and articles exercise a wide influence on public opinion in France...
...The present situation in France can be understood only by an evaluation of the role of de Gaulle...
...Malrepresentation is not the only form of "legality" under the Fifth Republic...
...6.00...
...The powers of the National Assembly are limited, its sessions brief, its debates perfunctory...
...a President, chosen by a large electoral college: a multi-party system...
...the rise of a new economy: the colonial problem...
...What has strengthened the new regime has been the remarkable advance of the national economy...
...The National Assembly passes laws, but does not legislate...
...whereas the Union for the New Republic (UNR), whose platform may be said to consist of one phrase, "de Gaulle...
...His comments are clear and vigorous, based on full and exact information, but they lack the coherence of an integrated viewpoint—conservative, liberal or radical...
...Reviewed by J. Salwyn Schapiro Professor Emeritus of History, CCNY...
...Both books are severely critical of the unstable, multi-party regime—referred to as the "System"—that discredited the Fourth Republic and led to its downfall...
...He exercises dictatorial powers without being a dictator in either spirit or manner...
...In his book Aron deals with the political system, past and present...
...Wholly admirable was his proposal to solve the Algerian problem through a popular referendum that would determine the political future of the country...
...The founders of the Fifth Republic were determined to change all that...
...The authors are convinced that the Fifth Republic, though it has a "Government which governs," cannot last...
...The first elections to this body in 1058 more than fulfilled expectations...
...As President of the French Community he has opposed colonialism in any form...
...An atmosphere of pessimism pervades both books...
...What has been steadfast, according to Aron, is the French national character...
...Aron wonders why the French worker, who never had it so good, continues to vote Communist...
...Almost everything else has changed: the political system, the national economy, the colonial empire, the population itself...
...Political instability is an old story in France...
...Author, "The World in Crisis" BOTH THESE BOOKS deal with conditions in France that led to the downfall of the Fourth and to the establishment of the Fifth Republic, but their manner of treatment is markedly different...
Vol. 43 • October 1960 • No. 40
