A Comparison of the French Constitutional Reforms with the Proposals to End the Political

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Political science

A Comparison of the French Constitutional Reforms with the Proposals to End the Political Gridlock in American Politics Especially Since the 2010 Elections

The 5^th Republic instituted a number of constitutional reforms in France upon ending the 4^th Republican political gridlock. The reforms ranged from a renewal of the party system to victory for feminism where minor parties and women were allowed to contest every elective post. Consequently, women made up 19% of the legislature.

Contrastingly, in the US especially after 2010, courts interfered with the democratic process. For instance, the 2010 Supreme Court’s ruling on the citizens united, disgraced the political equality that had been enjoyed by Americans for many years. This ruling ensured that independent billionaires and the political clout in Washington had their day at the expense of many disgruntled voters. Politicians could still reach out to corporate organizations for campaign funds.

“Inequality has a direct impact on the democratic process by placing greater amounts of wealth in the hands of a tiny minority, who can use it to exercise undue influence on who is nominated and elected. The influence can also lobby governmental decision-making bodies, which in turn allow them to generate even more wealth for themselves (Schneirov and Fernandez 210)”. Despite this blow to democracy, the 2010 US Affordable healthcare act had a plus for the democratization process by enabling all Americans to access health care.

A Comparison of US and French Electoral Systems and Bipartisanship amongst Their Parties

The French 5^th Republic provides a case in point of two ballots plurality system. In this system, there is a need for a majority in the first ballot/round election. The absolute majority is registered by more than 50% of the cast votes. If there is no 50+1% in the first round, there is a rerun where the winner in this case, regardless of the percentage of votes, is one who has most votes. Like the US system, the weakest candidates are usually pressured to withdraw. On the other hand, the US system has impediments such as bare minimum vote sharing thresholds. These procedures obstruct small parties from winning voter representation.

Members of an electoral college in the USA determine the winner in case of a close race. In both countries, the party that holds the majority in the legislature tends to encourage polarization and hyper-partisanship amongst parties. For instan.............