If you've ever looked at any news about France, you've likely seen that the current president of France is Emmanuel Macron. But you may have also noticed that France also has a prime minister (who as of this writing is Sébastien Lecornu). So what gives: who actually is the leader of France? How are they elected? Who makes the laws that the sign?
The Fifth French Republic (la Cinquième République) is France's current political system. The republic was founded in 1958 following a referendum to rewrite the constitution of the previous Fourth French Republic (la Quatrième République) created shortly after the Second World War. Most of the text in today's constitution remains as it was at its founding, but several laws have introduced changes to the constitution since its founding.
The current republic shares a number of similarities with the current US political system, but also differs in structure in important ways. There are too many institutions to go over in one article, but you'll come away with a good idea of what some important institutions do! I've also included images of a few of the buildings.
The Electorate
