French And German Constitution Essay Research Paper

The executive in the French Vth Republic and the executive in the Federal republic in Germany have a few similarities and many differences. Since the French Vth constitution was tailor made by DeGaulles himself, the executive in this republic is very strong and authoritative. However, the executive in the Federal Republic of Germany, (the Bundesrepublik- Germany after 1945) was made up to prevent another Hitler from raising up, so it is very weak and is more of an executive figurehead.

The position of the executive in the French Vth Republic is an extremely powerful one. In Williams Safran s The French Polity, it is indicated that the French President is very independent from other branches of government, and much of this power derives from this fact (Safran 178). In Germany however, the framers of the Basic Law avoided the problems created by the dual executive of president and chancellor during the Weimar Republic and therefore made the president obviously subordinate to the chancellor and parliament in the policymaking process (Conradt 209). This meant that the German Federal President was not independent and authoritative such as the French President was. In fact, the German President was framed by the Bundesrepublik constitution to be secondary to the Chancellor. This is very contrary to the position the French President had because the French President was not limited by any strong legislative powers that parliament might have, or by being subject to ouster by parliament. On the contrary, the French President is like the president of the Weimar Republic in possessing special emergency powers in addition to the right of dissolution , and in fact, the French President is like the U.S. president in that he or she reigns and rules (Safran 178).

The French President is the head of France, in fact Safran indicates that he is the highest authority of the state; the guarantor of national independence (Safran 178). The French President is regarded as the individual that sees the constitution is being observed, as well as, like Article 5 states, the one who ensures the functioning of governmental authorities . There are many aspects of power that the French President is held by beside the ones already mentioned. The thing is that, while the French President represents the guide of France, in charge of the destiny of France and the Republic (Safran 178), the German President is nowhere close to being seen this way. In Germany, the President is the ceremonial head of state (Conradt 209). Conradt makes it clear that the President has many formal duties, such as formally appointing the Chancellor and the cabinet for election by the Bunderstag, signing laws and certifying that they were passed in the prescribed manner, and formally appointing and excusing national civil servants and federal judges. However, Conradt also writes that in all these functions, however, the president is merely implementing the will of the government or parliament (Conradt 209).

In conclusion it is evident that the French executive of the Vth republic is much stronger than the German President in after 1945. Essentially the German President subordinate to the chancellor, while the French President is the decision-maker. It is as if the two states switched constitutions with each other.