Consensus and Division in French Political Behaviour

Abstract

The extended twilight of Gaullism has provided considerable opportunity to study the Third and Fourth Republics and to analyze the reasons for instability and revolutions in France. While the immediate circumstances of 1958 that led to the sixteenth constitution since 1789 and the triumph of Charles de Gaulle may have been unique, the underlying factors in this revolution were not novel in French history. French society, torn by the cleavages of the past, was characterized by an excessive individualism which tended to diminish interpersonal persuasion and gave rise to a badly divided electorate which regularly voted for the same parties or tendencies. The consequent multiparty system produced an immobilisme in which only uneasy and short lived cabinet coalitions could be formed, and these were able to remain in office only by avoiding the most serious issues. Basic problems were not solved and individual parties were unable to make a deep enough impression on the electorate to change the voting patterns in the next election. Successive elections only renewed the same pattern, with the result that for twelve years neither great personalities nor constitutional engineering had any decisive effect on the political system. Attempts to unravel the multiple causes that gave rise to these problems have been legion. Historical, cultural, and structural explanations as well as more formal arguments about constitutions, electoral systems, and the party system have all been employed, providing a wealth of theory and facts about modern French politics. Duncan MacRae, Jr., in his latest book, Parliament, Parties, and Society in France 1946-1958,1 collects, assesses, and challenges many of these ideas. In a systematic investigation of the history of the rise and fall of every cabinet in the Fourth Republic and statistical analysis of 889 roll-call votes, he presents some thought-provoking ideas which may well stand the test of time. His analysis requires the reader to have a detailed knowledge of French politics and an acquaintance with statistical techniques such as multiple regression analysis, cluster analysis, cumulative scaling, Yules Q coefficient, and other methods used in the investigation of political behaviour. But Professor MacRae is an excellent guide, and he leads us through the intricacies of nineteen cabinets, their composition, policies, and support in the National Assembly and in the country. The author seeks those common properties in parties which lead them to divide in similar ways, a technique he developed in his earlier book, Dimensions of Congressional Voting. He examines about onetenth of all votes in the National Assembly, sorts the various roll calls