French Fifth Republic

French Republic
*République française* (French)
French Republic République française (French)
1958–present
	Flag
	Motto: "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"
	Anthem: "La Marseillaise";
	Great Seal:;
	Location of France (dark green) in the European Union (green)
Capital and largest city	Paris; 48°51.4′N 2°21.05′E / 48.8567°N 2.35083°E
Official language; and national language	French
Religion	Secular State; In Alsace-Moselle Roman Catholicism; Calvinism; Lutheranism; Judaism;
Government	Unitary semi-presidential constitutional republic
President
• 1959–1969 (first)	Charles de Gaulle
• 2017–present (current)	Emmanuel Macron
Prime Minister
• 1959–1962 (first)	Michel Debré
• Sep 2025–present (current)	Sébastien Lecornu
Legislature	Parliament
• Upper house	Senate
• Lower house	National Assembly
Establishment
• Current constitution	4 October 1958 (66 years)
• Independence of Algeria	5 July 1962
• Direct presidential elections	28 October 1962
• Decision on Freedom of Association	16 July 1971
• First cohabitation	20 March 1986
• Presidential term reduced to five years	24 September 2000
• 2008 institutional reform	23 July 2008
Currency	Euro (EUR); CFP franc (XPF);
Date format	dd/mm/yyyy (AD)
Calling code	+33
ISO 3166 code	FR
Internet TLD	.fr
Preceded by
	French Fourth Republic

The Fifth Republic (French: Cinquième République) is France's current republican system of government. It was established on 4 October 1958 by Charles de Gaulle under the Constitution of the Fifth Republic.^[1]

The Fifth Republic emerged from the collapse of the Fourth Republic, replacing the former parliamentary republic with a semi-presidential (or dual-executive) system^[2] that split powers between a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of government.^[3] Charles de Gaulle, who was the first French president elected under the Fifth Republic in December 1958, believed in a strong head of state, which he described as embodying l'esprit de la nation ("the spirit of the nation").^[4] 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 April) and parliamentary elections (in June) were synchronized to be held every fifth year, which ended in the 2024 French snap election.

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

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^ Loi constitutionnelle du 3 juin 1957 portant dérogation transitoire aux dispositions de l'article 90 de la Constitution (in French).
^ Lessig, Lawrence (1993). "The Path of the Presidency". East European Constitutional Review. Fall 1993 / Winter 1994 (2/3): 104 – via Chicago Unbound, University of Chicago Law School.
^ Richburg, Keith B. (25 September 2000). "French President's Term Cut to Five Years". The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
^ Kubicek, Paul (2015). European Politics. Routledge. pp. 154–156, 163. ISBN 978-1-317-34853-5.

[loi_constitutionnelle-6] Loi constitutionnelle du 3 juin 1957 portant dérogation transitoire aux dispositions de l'article 90 de la Constitution (in French).

[7] Lessig, Lawrence (1993). "The Path of the Presidency". East European Constitutional Review. Fall 1993 / Winter 1994 (2/3): 104 – via Chicago Unbound, University of Chicago Law School.

[8] Richburg, Keith B. (25 September 2000). "French President's Term Cut to Five Years". The Washington Post. Retrieved 25 February 2017.

[Kubicek2015-9] Kubicek, Paul (2015). European Politics. Routledge. pp. 154–156, 163. ISBN 978-1-317-34853-5.

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