Word: parliament
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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...dynamic and stable government. There is also the pessimistic idea that the divisions of the electorate are here to stay, that no constitutional trickery could erase them, and consequently that the Executive will be strong only if it is removed from intimate contact with an electorate and a Parliament which remain unable to produce a coherent majority...
...other hand, however, two sets of drastic measures are introduced in order to provide the Executive with power and prestige. First, Parliament's capacity to cripple the government is reduced. This is what de Gaulle means when he speaks of "a government and a Parliament that work together but remain separate as to their responsibilities...
...Parliament's sessions will be shorter. The power of parliamentary committees is curtailed. Cabinets can be overthrown only if a motion of no confidence is carried by an absolute majority of the National Assembly's members; if such a motion fails its authors cannot try again for one year. Also, deputies will be less tempted to destroy a cabinet in order to become ministers in the next one; from now on deputies who enter a cabinet have to resign from their seats...
Secondly, there is la grande pensee of General de Gaulle. Precisely because the citizens and their representatives remain divided, and because the cabinets will in the final analysis continue to depend on Parliament, there must be above all the other institutions of the state "a national arbiter far removed from political bickering...
Similarly, three hundred years ago, Richelieu had warned his King that only a monarchical strait-jacket could keep together a fickle and undisciplined nation. In de Gaulle's constitution, the President of the Republic, elected by a College of about 75,000 citizens (including Parliament and delegates of France's territorial subdivisions), will ensure "the regular operation of France's institutions" and guarantee "the continuity of the State...