The history of the Fifth Republic, from 1958 to today

Born in 1958 amid the Algerian crisis, the Fifth Republic is France's most durable regime since the Revolution, after the Third Republic. It has had eight presidents, three cohabitations, a reform of the presidential term and numerous revisions of its Constitution.

A birth in emergency

In spring 1958, the Fourth Republic is paralysed. Governments fall one after another and the Algerian War divides the country. On 13 May 1958, a riot in Algiers raises fears of a military takeover. President René Coty calls on General de Gaulle, who is invested as président du Conseil on 1 June 1958 by the National Assembly.

De Gaulle obtains the right to draft a new Constitution. The text, drafted in particular by Michel Debré, is approved by referendum on 28 September 1958. It is promulgated on 4 October 1958. On 21 December that year, de Gaulle is elected President of the Republic by an electoral college of around 80,000 grands électeurs.

The de Gaulle years (1959-1969)

The early years are dominated by the Algerian question. The Évian Accords are approved by referendum in April 1962. After the Petit-Clamart assassination attempt against the general on 22 August 1962, a major reform is adopted by referendum on 28 October 1962: the president will henceforth be elected by direct universal suffrage.

De Gaulle is re-elected in December 1965, in a runoff against François Mitterrand. The May 1968 crisis leads to a dissolution of the National Assembly and a large victory for his supporters in the June legislative elections. In April 1969, his plan to reform the Senate and the regions is rejected in a referendum. He resigns on 28 April 1969.

From Pompidou to Mitterrand

Georges Pompidou is elected in June 1969. He dies in office on 2 April 1974. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing succeeds him in May 1974. His seven-year term is marked by the lowering of the voting age to 18 and by the extension of the right to refer laws to the Constitutional Council to 60 deputies or 60 senators.

In May 1981, François Mitterrand becomes the first left-wing president of the Fifth Republic. He immediately dissolves the National Assembly and secures a majority. In 1986, the right wins the legislative elections: this is the first cohabitation, with Jacques Chirac at Matignon. Re-elected in 1988, Mitterrand experiences a second cohabitation from 1993 to 1995, with Édouard Balladur.

Chirac, Sarkozy, Hollande

Jacques Chirac is elected in 1995. His dissolution of the National Assembly in 1997 leads to the third cohabitation, with Lionel Jospin as Prime Minister until 2002. The referendum of September 2000 reduces the presidential term to five years. In 2002, Chirac is re-elected in the runoff against Jean-Marie Le Pen. In 2005, voters reject the treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe in a referendum.

Nicolas Sarkozy is elected in 2007. The constitutional revision of 23 July 2008 limits the president to two consecutive terms and creates the priority question of constitutionality (QPC). François Hollande is elected in 2012. He does not seek re-election in 2017, a first under the Fifth Republic for an incumbent president.

Since 2017

Emmanuel Macron is elected in 2017, then re-elected in April 2022 against Marine Le Pen. In the June 2022 legislative elections, his camp wins only a relative majority. On 9 June 2024, on the evening of the European elections, he dissolves the National Assembly. The snap legislative elections give no bloc an absolute majority.

Several governments follow one another. On 4 December 2024, Michel Barnier's government is brought down by a motion of censure, the first since 1962. François Bayrou, appointed on 13 December 2024, loses a confidence vote on 8 September 2025. Sébastien Lecornu is appointed the following day.

The main features of the regime

• A two-headed executive: a president elected by direct universal suffrage and a Prime Minister accountable to the National Assembly.
• A framed Parliament: the scope of statute law is delimited, and the government has tools such as Article 49, paragraph 3.
• Constitutional review: the Constitutional Council checks that laws comply with the Constitution.
• A frequently revised Constitution: more than twenty revisions since 1958, the most recent in March 2024 to enshrine the freedom to have an abortion (IVG).

The next presidential election is scheduled for 18 April and 2 May 2027. It will be the twelfth election of the president by direct universal suffrage since 1965.