Conclusion: Challenging the Conventional Wisdoms about Parliamentary Representation in France

The seven papers gathered in this issue contradict four conventional prejudices about the French Parliament and its members. They show that citizens and MPs are not necessarily attached to a ‘general’ conception of representation, in which MPs represent the French Nation as a whole, with no reference to a territory or to specific interest groups. Second, the papers demonstrate that MPs are not perceived as an aristocracy agreeing on values and interests beyond political cleavages. Third, they prove that the representation gap between citizens and MPs is usually exaggerated and that electors are quite aware of the difficulties of being a deputy. Finally, they also establish that the weakness of the French Parliament and its submission to the executive power are often exaggerated. French MPs are nevertheless strongly focused on their constituencies and not much involved in parliamentary work; further, they are certainly not that enthusiastic about an eventual empowerment of their assembly.     

The French Constitutional Law of 23 July 2008 as seen by MPs: Working or Talking Parliament?

The French constitutional law of 2008 is, with the modification of 47 articles, the most important revision of the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, at least in quantitative terms. Surprisingly, there have been few attempts to evaluate the effects of the reform, whose official aim was to improve the status of the role of the (traditionally weak) French parliament. The purpose of this contribution is to analyse how MPs themselves judge this reform and its effects, especially on the role of the parliament and its everyday work. To do so we make use of the data of the LEGIPAR research project (September 2009–January 2011): 227 MPs answered closed and open questions about their perception of parliamentary work in face-to-face interviews. The data of the project DEPASTRA (2005–6) allow for a comparison with MPs' positions before the vote of the constitutional revision of 2008.     

Mind the Gap: Using UK Parliamentary Sources to Enhance Teaching

Online primary parliamentary sources can be of great value in teaching Parliament-related courses and a valuable means of promoting the development of students' research and analytical skills; particularly taking into account the research habits of the modern student population. Through a series of focus groups with politics students and a national survey of politics lecturers, the perceptions and current use of the UK Parliament website in teaching are analysed. It was found that a considerable number of lecturers are making use of the website for teaching purposes, though this is usually at a very basic and often superficial level. Barriers to the use of parliamentary resources include a lack of awareness of the types and variety of parliamentary material, difficulties in finding appropriate material on the Parliament website and a lack of understanding on the part of lecturers as to how to use this material effectively in lectures and seminars.     

Committee Inquiries in the Australian Parliament and their Influence on Government: Government Acceptance of Recommendations as a Measure of Parliamentary Performance

Committees in the Australian parliament often make recommendations to government and attempt to persuade the government to accept them. Using a sample of committee reports tabled between the 2001 and 2004 elections, this paper measures the government acceptance of committee recommendations as a proxy for committees' influence. On average, the government stated it accepted three majority recommendations out of 11 per report, although this figure drops to two and a half when viewed as recommendations implemented and not merely promised. The government accepted virtually no minority recommendations. The most important report characteristic is the extent to which it affects the government's reputation, but the breadth of political support that it can muster is also relevant.     

Parliamentary questions in the European parliament: Representation,information and control

Parliamentary questions and the membership of the European Parliament have both remained under‐researched. This article redresses the deficit by using a content analysis of written questions to analyse the behaviour of MEPs. Since tabling a question is one of the last formal rights of the backbencher, the study of parliamentary questions may be regarded as a particularly useful tool for increasing our knowledge of the way that MEPs understand their role as representatives. First the formal rules, function, and importance of parliamentary questions are explained. The following dimensions of questions are analysed: the questioning activity of MEPs, party groups, and national delegations; the issues MEPs raise in their questions, and the territorial dimension of the questions.     

The effect of multiple-office holding on the parliamentary activity of MPs in the Czech Republic

This article deals with multiple-office holdings by legislators in the Czech Republic during the VI. Chamber of Deputies, 2010–2013. First, both positive and negative theoretical consequences of simultaneously holding multiple political offices are depicted. Then, a uniquely detailed database of member of parliament-periods is constructed for quantitative research. Multiple-office holding is demonstrated to be a frequent behaviour among Czech deputies. The analysis results suggest that some of the deputies’ parliamentary performances were influenced both positively and negatively. Multiple-office holders probably save time on certain activities, and focus more strongly on others. Different mandates held simultaneously by deputies affect their activity differently; local and non-executive mandates’ effects tend to be positive compared with regional and executive mandates’ effects.     

The Creation and Transformation of Regional Parliamentary Assemblies: Lessons from the Pan-African Parliament

This article analyses the genesis and recent evolution of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), one of the key institutions of African integration. Based on theories relating to the European Parliament, it argues that the dynamics surrounding the establishment of the PAP result from a blend of internal and external factors. On the one hand, the decision to create a PAP can be traced back to the problems of the Organisation of African Unity and to the will of African leaders to revive Pan-Africanism. On the other hand, the establishment and design of the PAP are partially inspired by international precedents such as the European Parliament. Over and above this observation, which is informed by the theory of mimetic institutionalism, the existence of regular interactions between Europe and Africa and, more generally, the outward activities of the PAP, would seem propitious to the self-assertion of this institution. Ultimately, the objective of the article is to lay the ground for a more ambitious theory of regional parliamentary assemblies.     

Early marriage in pre-modern France

In France, from the end of the seventeenth to the beginning of the nineteenth century, despite noticeable age fluctuations, most subjects of the French kings entered into matrimony well beyond the age of puberty. In the present article, females marrying when under the age of 20 will be considered “precocious,” following the principle that early marriages not only fell outside the result of normal distribution but were a forceful expression of the marriage behavior peculiar to certain couples. The analysis sought to determine whether these exceptional unions were idiosyncratic or whether they reflected rational conduct that could be generalized. Certain features stood out, without any single one being decisive because of the relative weakness of the differences observed. The daughter who married young was often well-born and literate. Coming from the South, she was more frequently found in data from the nineteenth rather than the eighteenth century. Her husband was also young and had grown up not far away from her. She had a mother and a mother-in-law who had been young brides and at least one sister who had married young. As the youngest of a large family, she often had lost her father.     

法国重罪陪审制度的启示与借鉴

陪审制度具有重要的政治意蕴与司法功能。在法国,对于法定刑较重的重大案件,实行以随机方式抽选一般国民担任陪审员,由陪审员与职业法官组成合议庭,共同审理案件,一起决定定罪量刑的制度。法国重罪陪审制度对于完善我国人民陪审员制度,如构建重罪、复杂案件由陪审团审理的制度,取消对陪审员学历的要求、确立科学的陪审员遴选程序与陪审团评议表决程序方面具有重要的借鉴意义。     

法国宪法实践中对国际条约的合宪性审查

设立宪法委员会实施合宪性审查是法国1958年宪法的一大突破,其中对于国际条约的合宪性进行审查更是宪法委员会实践中的亮点之一。在欧洲一体化进程加快的形势下,作为国内的合宪性审查机构,如何实施对于国际法文件,特别是欧盟法律文件的合宪性审查是宪法委员会面临的重大难题,宪法委员会在这个方面既表现出了一定的创造性,更表现出了相当大的自我约束,这在一定程度上发展了法国的宪法制度,但也反映出其对于宪法难题的回避。     

Committee Parliamentary Specialization Index. Explaining MPs’ specialisation in the Spanish Congreso de los Diputados*

ABSTRACT

Nowadays legislatures are largely based on committee systems. This enables a division of work and specialisation, in the context of highly complex politics and policy development. It seems clear that MP specialisation in the field of the committee they serve on is an important political asset, both for MPs and their parliamentary party group. This paper presents the Committee Parliamentary Specialization Index. This index measures the degree an MP is specialised in the jurisdiction of the committee they serve on. In the second part of the paper, the index is applied to the Spanish Congreso de los Diputados, an interesting case for testing this multi-faceted index, to find institutional, political and individual factors that better explain the degree of MP specialisation.     

Paths toward autonomy: The living conditions of fostered children in western France in the early 20th century

In order to test the validity of widespread notions about the unhappy lives of abandoned French children placed in foster care around the turn of the 20th century, the article uses the case files and inspectors' reports of the Romorantin agency to analyze the nature of fosterage: the children's continuing links to their biological parents, to their foster families, and with the Assistance publique system, which administered the fosterage system and the agency. The Romorantin agency was located in Sologne in the center of France, 120 miles south of Paris, and placed out in the countryside only children “abandoned” in Paris. The analysis suggests that although the lives of fostered children were characterized by constraints and, at times, mistreatment, in many respects, these children were able to experience more autonomy and choice to shape their lives than their peers in “normal” families. A close reading of the sources shows their lives to have had less of the stereotyped unhappiness usually attributed to them.     

法国违宪审查制度探析

宪法至上、基本人权的保障、现代法治国这些观念被普遍认同与接受,是法国违宪审查制度建立的重要基础。与其他欧洲国家相比,法国违宪审查制度存在着缺陷,表现为宪法委员会的法律地位不明确,个人不能直接向宪法委员会提出违宪审查的请求,宪法委员会仅对法律实施事先审查等等。宪法在司法诉讼中的适用,打破了宪法委员会对违宪审查的垄断权,同时也引起了新的法律问题。通过改革来完善现有的违宪审查制度是法国学者的重要研究议题。其中,先行裁决制度由于它的各种优点,对完善违宪审查制度将起重要的作用。     

法国消费争议非讼解决机制及启示

法国消费争议非讼解决从普遍管辖向专业管辖、国家主导向企业自治并行发展。调解机构或独立设置,或附设于国家机关、公用事业单位、企业及行业组织,其独立、公正、便捷,有法令、章程、协定等保障,在实践中发挥着化解消费争议的功能。我国可通过法律授权并规定调解规则,依托既有行业组织设立或单独创设专业调解委员会,强化消费者协会调解职能,鼓励经营者建立消费者保护部门,完善消费争议非讼解决机制。     

法国行政判例制度及其借鉴

法国具有成文法传统,普通法院法官断案原则上以成文法为依据,判例没有当然的拘束力。唯独在行政法领域,法国很早就建立了行政判例制度,最高行政法院的判例具有当然的拘束力。行政判例在法国行政诉讼中发挥了巨大的作用,极大地提升了行政法院的公信力,法国行政诉讼制度至今亦为世界所尊崇。就我国行政立法与行政审判的现状而言,迫切需要建立行政判例制度,法国行政判例制度对我国具有一定的借鉴意义。     

法国行政诉讼纲要：历史、构造、特色及挑战——区域行政立法模式前瞻

法国行政诉讼系欧陆行政诉讼的一大范本,在大陆法系甚至在英美法系都具有广泛的影响力。仅就学术研究而言,其已成为比较行政诉讼领城必不可少的研判素材。其中,历史、制度、特色与挑战构成法国行政诉讼研究的基本框架,系比较行政诉讼的基本逻辑起点。     

法国政务公开述评

最近30年,法国在法律制度层面上采取一系列措施增强行政活动的透明度,确立了政务公开原则。在行政文件、文书的公开方面,主要确立了行政规范性文件的公布制度、行政文书的获取制度、个人信息数据库的使用与保护公民权的制度;在行政活动的公开方面,实现了行政机构及其办事程序的整体公开,公共资金使用的透明度得到加强,行政程序的若干环节引入了透明机制,行政权的行使得到行政相对人越来越多的监督。     

Holy Mountains and Anti-Cult Ecology: The Campaign Against the Aumist Religion in France

After the homicides and suicides of the Solar Temple (1994–1995), anti-cult movements received an unprecedented degree of public support in France, and a moral panic against cults was generated, eventually producing two parliamentary reports and the establishment of a governmental Mission to Fight Cults. The Aumist Religion, headquartered at the Holy City of the Mandarom, in the French Alps, although comparatively small, became one of the most visible targets and was perceived by anti-cultists, the media, and the government as the epitome of the dangerous cult. The paper examines the history of the Madaron controversies, especially the involvement of government-financed anti-cult organizations and representatives of the ecology movement, and argues that the Aumists' greatest sin is their very visibility.     

Geographic Representation in Party‐Dominated Legislatures: A Quantitative Text Analysis of Parliamentary Questions in the German Bundestag

Political representation in European democracies is widely considered partisan and collectivist. This article, however, stresses that there is more to the representative process in European democracies than just its textbook version. It emphasizes the role of geographic representation as a complementary strategy in party‐dominated legislatures that is characterized by two distinct features. First, legislators employ distinct opportunities to participate in legislative contexts to signal attention to geographic constituents without disrupting party unity. Second, these activities are motivated by individual‐ and district‐level characteristics that supplement electoral‐system‐level sources of geographic representation. We empirically test and corroborate this argument for the German case on the basis of a content analysis of parliamentary questions in the 17th German Bundestag (2009–13). In this analysis, we show that higher levels of localness among legislators and higher levels of electoral volatility in districts result in increased geographic representation.     

Occupational workplace and traffic fatalities in Alsace, France (2000–2005): Results of toxicological investigations

France ranks as leader country in Europe for the consumption of cannabis as well as of psychoactive medications. Whereas the relationship between psychotropics and road accidents is now well-established, few data are still available on the influence of drugs on occupational accidents. The purpose of the present study was to measure the prevalence of psychoactive drug intake (alcohol excepted) among victims of occupational fatalities (including workplace accidents + traffic accidents, i.e. on the way to and from work) occurred in the region Alsace over the period 2000–2005. Data were collected by compiling files on occupational accidents from two different public agencies (CRAM, Regional Sickness Fund Alsace-Moselle; DRTEFP, Regional Department of Work, Employment and Professional Training) together with those from the Medico-Legal Institute of Strasbourg over the period tested. Data analysis showed that 3% of the victims of workplace fatalities were under the influence of drugs (alcohol excluded) at the time of accident, as well as 5% of the victims of occupational traffic accidents. Our results also highlight a low rate of toxicological analyses, since these investigations were requested by the authorities in 41% of traffic victims and only 15% of workplace victims. In France, the relevance of psychoactive drug intake in occupational deaths is much better targeted in the case of traffic fatalities (due to the existence of specific regulations, e.g. compulsory urinalysis for drugs of abuse in drivers involved in a road accident) than in those occurred at workplace (no specific regulations).