French electoral systems and elections (1789-1957)

Louis Napoleon is reputed to have said that election was like baptism-it was essential but one did not want to spend one's life in the font. Hence his coup d'état in 1851. In representative government the members of parliament are expected to face the electorate without reluctance even if their chances of re-election are slight. They have within their power one means of giving themselves reasonable cause for confidence: they can change the electoral law so as to promote their own success. The use of legal means to change the electoral system has sometimes been a means of conducting a coup d'état in kid gloves. From the Revolution to the present day France has had more coups d'état of this kind than of the other. Sometimes, however, a change has been the result of purer motives, such as the desire to increase the accuracy with which the people's opinions are represented in parliament or to aid the development of strong national parties which would ensure stable and effective government.