Das Staatsverständnis von Charles de Gaulle

As the architect of the Fifth Republic, Charles de Gaulle continues to shape France's institutional structure to this day. In his view, a non-partisan and impartial head of state was needed at the centre of the new institutional architecture—a referee role that would serve as an anchor of stability. Many contemporaries attested to the authoritarian traits of the Fifth Republic's reforms. The Gaullist conception of the state is shaped by de Gaulle's own career as a soldier, general and head of state, and embodies a view of the people, the nation and the state. Due to the “legitimacy of one chosen by millions,” the idea of monistic parliamentarianism was passé, thus sealing the divergence between the German and French systems.

With contributions by
Bernard Bourdin | Olivier Cayla | Alain Chatriot | Antoine Corre-Basset | Lucien Jaume | Nicolas Mazellier | Armin Steinbach