French Politics, Society and Culture Series General Editor: Robert Elgie, Paddy Moriarty Professor of Government and International Studies, Dublin City University France has always fascinated outside observers. Now, the country is undergoing a period of profound transformation. France is faced with a rapidly changing international and European environment and it is having to rethink some of its most basic social, political and economic orthodoxies. As elsewhere, there is pressure to conform. And yet, while France is responding in ways that are no doubt familiar to people in other European countries, it is also managing to maintain elements of its long-standing distinctiveness. Overall, it remains a place that is not exactly comme les autres. This new series examines all aspects of French politics, society and culture. In so doing it focuses on the changing nature of the French system as well as the established patterns of political, social and cultural life. Contributors to the series are encouraged to present new and innovative arguments so that the informed reader can learn and understand more about one of the most beguiling and compelling of all European countries. Titles include: Jean K. Chalaby THE DE GAULLE PRESIDENCY AND THE MEDIA Statism and Public Communications Pepper D. Culpepper, Peter A. Hall and Bruno Palier (editors) CHANGING FRANCE The Politics that Markets Make David Drake FRENCH INTELLECTUALS AND POLITICS FROM THE DREYFUS AFFAIR TO THE OCCUPATION David Drake INTELLECTUALS AND POLITICS IN POST-WAR FRANCE Graeme Hayes ENVIRONMENTAL PROTEST AND THE STATE IN FRANCE David J. Howarth THE FRENCH ROAD TO EUROPEAN MONETARY UNION Andrew Knapp PARTIES AND THE PARTY SYSTEM IN FRANCE A Disconnected Democracy? Michael S. Lewis-Beck (editor) THE FRENCH VOTER Before and After the 2002 Elections John Loughlin SUBNATIONAL GOVERNMENT The French Experience Mairi Maclean, Charles Harvey and Jon Press BUSINESS ELITES AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE IN FRANCE AND UK
Susan Milner and Nick Parsons (editors) REINVENTING FRANCE State and Society in the Twenty-First Century Gino G. Raymond THE FRENCH COMMUNIST PARTY DURING THE FIFTH REPUBLIC A Crisis of Leadership and Ideology Sarah Waters SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN FRANCE Towards a New Citizenship Reuben Y. Wong THE EUROPEANIZATION OF FRENCH FOREIGN POLICY France and the EU in East Asia French Politics, Society and Culture Series Standing Order ISBN 978-0-333-80440-7 hardcover Series Standing Order ISBN 978-0-333-80441-4 paperback (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England
Subnational Government The French Experience John Loughlin European Studies Centre Visiting Fellow, St Antony s College, Oxford Professor of European Politics, Cardiff University, UK
John Loughlin 2007 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007 978-0-333-99447-4 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copying or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2007 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-43244-8 ISBN 978-0-230-21062-2 (ebook) DOI 10.1057/9780230210622 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Loughlin, John. Subnational government : the French experience / John Loughlin. p. cm. (French politics, society, and culture) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Subnational governments France. 2. Decentralization in government France. I. Title. JS4895.L68 2007 320.944 dc22 2006052967 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07
To my daughter, Niamh Baker-Loughlin, to whom I have tried to pass on my love of all things French.
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Contents List of Tables List of Maps viii x Introduction: The International Context of French Subnational Governance 1 Part I General Overview of the French Case 23 Chapter 1 Centralization and Decentralization in French History 25 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 The Trente Glorieuses (1945 1975) and their Aftermath 45 The Decentralization Programme: An Overview (1982 2006) 63 Part II The Institutions of French Subnational Governance 81 Chapter 4 The Municipality (Commune): Between Local Democracy and Effective Governance 83 Chapter 5 The Meso Level: The Region vs. the Département 110 Part III The Institutions at Work 137 Chapter 6 The Politics of French Territorial Governance 139 Chapter 7 Administering Territorial Governance: The State Strikes Back? 162 Chapter 8 Paying For It All 182 Conclusions 203 Notes 208 Index 234 vii
List of Tables 2.1 Urban, rural and agricultural populations 54 2.2 Relative weighting of the three sectors as a percentage of the working population in 1975 and 1982 54 2.3 Population movements across territories: average yearly entries and departures for given periods 55 2.4 Immigration in France 1946 1987 (tables in thousands) 56 2.5 Immigration of workers and family members by nationality 57 4.1 Population sizes of urban units in 1999 85 4.2 The population in different urban and rural categories 88 4.3 The municipality s areas of responsibility 90 4.4 Progress of EPCIs with their own fiscal resources in France from 1999 to 2005 97 4.5 Number of EPCIs with own resources by region (2005) 98 4.6 Demographic repartition of the EPCIs in 2004 98 4.7 The division of EPCIs according to their legal status 99 4.8 Percentage of population of a region living in an existing pays or one in preparation 103 4.9 Inter-regional pays (2005) 105 5.1 The responsibilities of the département 115 5.2 The responsibilities of the region 127 5.3 Evolution of the amount of contracted funding for CPERs (billions of euros) (excluding the DOM) 131 5.4 Evolution of the share of the state and the region in funding of CPERs (excluding the DOM) 131 6.1 Balance of forces between Right and Left at national and local (municipalities of more than 9000 inhabitants) levels (% of votes cast) 154 6.2 Evolution of municipal elections in towns of 9000 inhabitants or more in 1977, 1983 and 1989 (% of votes cast) 155 6.3 Results of regional elections 2004 159 7.1 The evolution of the relative position in percentage terms of the three administrative systems in France (1969 1998) 178 7.2 The evolution of the numbers of territorial administrators according to the type of employer (1984 1998) 179 8.1 Local Expenditure/GDP (% in year 2000) 184 8.2 Breakdown of local expenditure and revenues by level of government in 2003 (in billions of euros) 185 viii
List of Tables ix 8.3 Trends in local government finances in billions of euros (1998 2003) 185 8.4 Division of local finances among the different levels of government in millions of euros (1994 2003) 186 8.5 Local expenditure in 1999, in billions of euros 186 8.6 Local expenditure by type (in %) in 1999 187 8.7 The proportional contributions in % of the quatre vieilles, 1994 2005 189 8.8 Breakdown of local direct and indirect taxes in billions of euros (2003 and 2004) 191 8.9 The debts of local authorities in billions of euros (1999 2005) 199 8.10 Structural funds in France, 2000 2006 (in millions of euros) 200
List of Maps Map 1 France: Administrative Divisions 24 Map 2 The capitals of the French regions 82 Map 3 The regions of France 109 x