European Politics Essay

Not long after taking bit as chairperson, Nicolas Sarkozy initiated a bold agenda of sweeping semipolitical and economic refine which enflamed controversy and engendered violent confrontation within the apologise disposal and among the cut population regarding both the state of economic parity within french society, and Frances character reference in a swiftly changing global-political climate. Sarkozy, a former member of the National Assembly, a ii-time appointee as Minister of the Interior, and a past chairman of the UMP, rose to prominence as a widely popular (and besides widely unpopular) figure in the fusty wing of cut politics.Although Sarkozys in-person and romantic keep as well as his financial dealings and his earthly concern pictorial matter experience all fallen under the intense scrutiny of the French and Inter subject media, the close controversial issues associated with President Sarkozy have generally been and go by to be issue and indemnity o riented. Prior to being elected President, Sarkozy do global news headlines when, as Minister of the Interior, Sarkozy, insisted that Muslim women pose b are-headed for decreed identity photographs (Scott, 2005), a move which provoked a storm of ambition within France and throughout the globe.However, Sarkozys functions were even oft wider than get outed by his policy regarding identity photos Sarkozys main recommendation, accepted by Chirac in January 2004, was for a law prohibiting the wearing of ostentatious signs of religious affiliation in overt schools. This is now the law of the land (Scott, 2005). Sarkozys record prior to meet President indicated that he was a man unafraid to pursue a controversial cut through of action.As president, ane of Sarkozys first publi addressy criticized actions was his handling of a Libyan hostage crisis which involved the retrieval of Belgian health-care workers who had been held in Libya. In return for releasing the Belgians, the Lib yan dictator Gaddafi was fitted to gain President Sarkozys signature on a agreement which transferred hundreds of millions of euros, along with all-important(prenominal) military equipment to Libya. This move was met non only with reprimand only with a call for an investigation at the parlimentary level which was quest by the head of the French Socialist Party.Although this single example whitethorn seem slight in light of the forthcoming discussion regarding governingal reclaim and the EU policy on climate turn which leave behind form the heart of the present study of Sarkozys administration, the incident is informatory of the odd dichotomy which seems to stamp itself on legion(predicate) of Sarkozys policies, programs, and initiatives. The duality is one rooted on one side in what galore(postnominal) might consider a superficial, yet effective, understanding of public count on and political theater on the other side, it is rooted in what more might call brutall y matter-of-fact economics.Critics of Sarkozy go further than to call the President an economic pragmatist. Many members of Sarkozys own conservative party, the UMP, have criticized the President for being a strong advocate of free-trade age simultaneously backing sweeping reforms in the working-class sector including his loi de modernisation de leconomie (Lawday, 2007), or Modernization of the Economy Law which in addition to reposeful federal restrictions on retail prices and work-regulations, allowed workers who worked over thirty-five hours a work week to collect their overtime pay tax-free.If, basically, Sarkozys economic policies reflect a free-market, self-responsibility venture that he claims every advanced country in Europe, from Britain to those in Scandinavia, and lately Germany, has pick out to its advantage (Lawday, 2007) they overly reflect an essentially conservative philosophy which stands in odd contrast to Sarkozys iconoclastic physical body as an agent of c hange.As one observer phrased it, Sarkozys economic philosophy and national economic program poses not so much novelty as catch-up politics with a conservative twist (Lawday, 2007) and, as such, Sarkozys economic programs include the curbing of labor unions and their business leader. These thoughts of Sarkozys final cause of attack to government and economic matters leaves little room for doubt that at least(prenominal) in relation to financial matters the President is a true conservative, although his batch whitethorn be, overall, a bit more modern than that which is commonly associated with conservatism, the end- end is the same.Sarkozys economic philosophies are important not only because they impact one of the most crucial sectors of public policy and governmental influence in France the economy but also because they indicate the aforementioned duality of aspire and bearing which seems to stand as part and parcel of Sarkozys political career.If on e the one hand, Sa rkozy wanted to amend the 35-hour working week so that it is no longer the reposeful regulation it implies (Lawday, 2007), he also sought to simultaneously force strikers to maintain a minimum divine service for trains, buses and other public services (Lawday, 2007) and to slice into the bloated state bureaucracy, where the unions are strongest, by permitting one replacement for every two retiring government office workers (Lawday, 2007) while at the same time admitting in the face of the modern global economic crisis that laissez faire capitalism is dead.The economic platform and policies which Sarkozy has advocated indicate that above all else Sarkozy is a pragmatist. This event is s very reclaimable fact because, by keeping it firmly in mind, a more perpetrate understanding of Sarkozy the politician can be gained. In point of fact, most of what passes for populism in Sarkozys public image is precisely callable to his pragmatic go on.His populist reputation as a French national who is for iron immigration reform may collide mostwhat uncomfortably with his situation as the (rotating) President of the European Union, just as his stand on unions collides with his recent, public statements regarding socialism where Sarkozy responded to the question have you become a socialist? with the answer Maybe (Lawday, 2007). Sarkozys melodic themeism which stands in sharp contrasts to his fiscal conservatism and his conservatism on issues such as immigration and unions manifests itself not in ideology, necessarily, but within the framework of his aforementioned pragmatism.In other words, Sarkozy may be a populist to the extent that he adopts positions which will plume favor with French Nationalists, such as the headscarf legislation mentioned at the draw inprisingness of this paper, he may be a fiscal conservative bended on busting the unions and generating a productive working class base for French society, but in each case his convictions, while ar guably concentrated to pin down under a single umbrella of ideology, are eternally enacted by way of robust action.Sarkozy may be many things, but one thing he certainly is not is a dawdler. One of the most illustrative examples of Sarkozys modality and substance as a leader, and specifically as the President of France, is his massive reform of French government and the displacement of governmental power.Although as will be show shorty Sarkozys controversial reforms to French government have the design and mapping of bringing the government into the modern era of global-politics and allowing for a more expeditiously run government within France itself, the same reforms have been assailed by Sarkozys critics, primarily by the French Socialist party, as being tantamount(predicate) to instating a dictatorship in France with Sarkozy himself enthroned as dictator.Although the specificities and complexities of Sarkozys reforming of French government pose much too gigantic a too v ast to exhaust within the confines of this short discussion, the overall impact and intention of his reform policies offer profound insight into not Sarkozys ambitions as President but into the potentially radical reshaping of French government as well as Frances relationship to the EU.Before delving into the specifics of the reform legislation, it is useful to remember just how the French Constitution regarded the separation of governmental powers and more importantly what role the President of France was accorded by the fifth part Republics Constitution. Because Sarkozys program of governmental reform offers, as a centerpiece, the apparent(a) expansion of presidential power and authority, while simultaneously strengthening the role and power of parliament, sorting out the specific angles by which Sarkozy enabled the expansion of Presidential power can be quite difficult to achieve.However, the role of the French President, according to the Fifth Republics Constitution was limit ed condition 5 states that the President Provides by their arbitration for the regular functioning of the public authorities and the continuity of the State (Bell, 2000, p. 15), with nothing mentioned about the Presidents own power to legislate. This aspect of the Constitution is the key area by which Sarkozy sought to expand, in the eyes of the anti-reformers, Presidential power.Specifically, the most controversial aspect of the reform-laws was Sarkozys plan to allow the president to address parliament, opening up the possibility of a US State of the Union-style address. That has not been permitted since 1875, in an attack to keep the executive and legislative branches separate (BBC News), and it is by this likelyly simplistic move that Sarkozy expanded Presidential authority while simultaneously seeming to limit that same authority.Because the Fifth Republics Constitution calls for the President to function as an arbitrator the American-style Presidency of the President as the leader of the legislature, addressing parliament, becomes a specter of dread to those who view this as an incursion on the Constitutional separation of powers. While it is true that Article 5, which implicitly restricts the Presidency, has been a subject of controversy (Bell, 2000, p.15), Sarkozys expansion of Presidential authority has turn out to be even more divisive. Sarkozys plan to rewrite the Fifth Republics Constitution represents the two primary aspects of his governing style which have formed the roots of the current discussion these aspects are his inwrought conservatism and his obvious pragmatism.The reform legislation introduced radical, pragmatic steps toward impact sweeping change in France and rewrote the French Constitution, but while Sarkozy verbalised his assurances that the reforms represented Movement, change, modernity, (BBC News) as well as a victory for French democracy, the same reforms also contributed to the strengthening of Presidential authority and resulted in a divided parliament with Sarkozys reform bill passing by 539 votes to 357 one vote more than the three-fifths majority of the combined Assembly and Senate required to pass the reforms BBC News), so if strengthening democracy was Sarkozys intention, his initial result was to divide the parliament and pass a sweeping reform to the French Constitution with next-to-no consensus. This fact in itself would seem to confirm the trepidation regarding his proposed reforms (now law) which engulfed his detractors in parliament. One of these detractors, Socialist senator Bernard Frimat told lawmakers before the vote at a peculiar(prenominal) session at the Chateau of Versailles (BBC News) that Sarkozy had offered a consolidation of monocracy, (BBC News) but Sarkozy, always careful to play to populist ideas and ideals, counter-weighted the expansion of Presidential authority with agree limits and restrictions on the French Presidency.The reform laws while strengthening the P residents role in the legislature also limit the President to two five year terms, gives parliament a veto over some presidential appointments, ends government control over parliaments committee system, allows parliament to set its own agenda, and ends the presidents right of collective pardon (BBC News). Seemingly, by these latter reforms, Sarkozy was interested in limiting not expanding the powers of the French President however the telling point of the reform laws as they relate to the French Presidency lies within the mere expansion of the Presidents role as a lawmaker rather than, as the Fifth Republics Constitution advocated, a a deaf(p) umpire who has three principal tasks i) to see that the Constitution is respected ii) to intermediate to ensure the continuity of the state iii) to be vigilant on the issues of national independence, territorial integrity and the respect for treaties (Bell, 2000, p. 16).Sarkozys vision of the President and the reform legislation he was ab le to enact to realize this vision stands in direct opposition to Article 5 of the French Constitution. Sarkozys radical pragmatism extends beyond the parameters and confines of French domestic issues into the realm of International affairs. As the acting President of the European Union, Sarkozy has applied a likewise hands on approach to issues of international importance such as climate change. As illustrated by Sarkozys reform legislation and the fair concealed agenda therein which provided for the expansion of Presidential authority, Sarkozy seems to have adopted a similar approach to his position as EU President.On the topic of global warming and climate change, Sarkozy has turn out to be as pragmatic and as forceful as he was on the issues of crime, immigration, and government reform in France. At the thirty-third summit of the G8, Sarkozy offered a plan to reduce French CO2 emissions by half and what followed was the adoption of this idea by the G8 nations as a whole. Al though the agreement which was reached at the summit was non-binding, Sarkozys lead enabled the G8 nations to put forth a collective plan to cut in half the global emissions of glasshouse gasses. Sarkozy continued to push for a binding agreement, but his efforts proved futile. Nevertheless, his approach to the issue of climate change represented, as his approach to governmental reform. a pragmatic and comprehensive approach to a hard problem.Of interest is the fact that the binding agreement regarding greenhouse gas emissions was apparently blocked by the United States with its President, George W, Bush, citing the refusal of third-world nations to also enter into the agreement. Responding tot his obstacle, Sarkozy turned his efforts not toward America or the Third World, but to China, utilizing his status as EU President to put forward a comprehensive and progressive postcode policy which included a collaborative effort with the Chinese. Sarkozys successful brokering of a deal on energy adn climate change between the EU adn China marks one of the most important accomplishments of his pragmatic and often radical approach to governing.It is due to this combination of tenacity and creativity that Sarkozy has evolved from a controversial cabinet member in the French government known mostly for being a strong conservative to an actor on the world stage who seems to be equal parts populist and conservative. It is, perhaps, not necessary, to understand which of the aspects, conservative or populist is dominant in Sarkozy, it is possibly not even that important to understand, at a personal, human level, which aspect represents more honestly Sarkozys own world-view. While some observers may claim that Sarkozys populism is simply a smokescreen to conceal his ambitious moves toward a consolidation of personal power, others may claim, with good reason, that Sarkozys populism represents a genuine attempt to represent the global sea-change which has currently cast globa l economics and world-affairs into an ambiguous and hazardous place.No matter which of these perspectives lies closer to the objective truth of Sarkozy the man, the result of Sarkozys actions as a world-leader will involve much more than a consideration of President Sarkozys motives. One of the most compelling aspects of Sarkozy as a world leader is his simultaneous insistence of modernity while maintaining an acute, almost reverential, respect for the past. Like the other dualities apparent in Sarkozys governing style adn thinking style, this duality of past vs. future manifest, in Sarkozy, not as an abstract idealogy but in pragmatic application. In addition to his highly controversial reforms in regard to economics, government, unions, immigration, and climate change, Sarkozy has also generated a great deal of controversy regarding his position of cultural subjects and educational activity in France.While seeming to be a strong nationalist with a true conservatives reverence fo r tradition, Sarkozy has readily admitted that France has failed to democratise its culture and that in doing so, accomplished one of the chief failures of the past 50 years of French government (Sarkozy out to democratise, 2007, p. B01). As always, his suggested course of action revealed a blend of populism and conservatism and fused the cultural concerns of France with the power of the French government Sarkozy defined democratisation de la culture as providing the means for the largest number of people to understand and appreciate Sophocles, Shakespeare and Racine. He added that the pop the question of education is to teach you how to tell the difference between Madame Bovary and a guard blotter, or between Antigone and Harry Potter. Later, you can read what you like. (Sarkozy out to Democratize, 2007, p. B01)In conclusion, Sarkozys style of governing offers a curious and sometimes uncomfortable blend of populism and conservatism. In the area of domestic policy, he has prov en to be both radical in his approach and keenly assured of the political impact of his pragmatic reforms, on international issues he has proven to be creative, opportunistic, and decisive. While Sarkozys bold embracing of modernity may be authenticated by his actions in some cases, many of his policies and programs reveal an essentially conservative politician who seeks, not merely reform, but the showcase of reform which ensures the continuation of his carefully crafted ideological beliefs.