The French Bureaucracy, Judiciary and Legislature

France has one of if not the best Bureaucracy in the world. The reason why it is so effective lays in the stucture of the national Bureaucracy. The key positions at the top of the bureaucracy command a lot of perstige and power. The Bureacrats are trained by two special schools called the Grands Ecoles.�

There are over 1 million students in the higher education program in France. Only 52,000 students make it to the Grands Ecoles and out of those 52,000 students only 3,000 get to attend the top two schools in the nation. These two schools are the Ecole Nationale d'Administration and the Ecole Polytechnique.�

The French police and military aren't run as smoothly and have suffered some setbacks in recent years. The police have abused and taken advatage of the imigrants in France who come from North Africa, sub Sahara Africa and the Carribean.�People are randomly detained for up to 48 hours in detention without access to lawyers or without being allowed to speak to their families.�

The French Judiciary has very little autonomy but that has been changing in recent decades, especially within the last 20 years. The Constitutional Council as�the Judiciary is called is made up of 9 members who are nominated and serve for staggered 9 year terms.�Three of these judges are elected by the president, 3 by the prime minister and the other 3 are elected by the National Assembly and President. The power of the Constitutional Court has expanded�because of a 1974 amendment to the Constitution which expanded the personel who were allowed to bring forth a constitutional suit or claim. There has also been an expansion of judicial review capabilities. In today's modern society, magistrates instead of the president appoint the judges.��

The legislature has two bodies. The National Assembly has less power and influence than the Senate. The Senate in France is very similar to the Senate in the United States. The National Assembly has 577 members and is elected by universal suffrage. The Assemblymen serve 5 year terms. The Assembly is weak in that it can be dissolved by the president.�

The Senate on the other hand is a lot more powerful. The Senate has fewer members with 321 people. They serve longer terms of 9 years each. They are also elected by an electoral college. The electoral college is made up of members of the National Assembly, Members of the Department of Provincial Councils, and Members of the City Council. Unlike the Assembly, the Senate cannot be dissolved by the president. However both chambers of the legislature must approve of all legislation before it is passed on to the president.