In France, a ministry (French: ministère) is a division of the central government () responsible for implementing government policy in a specific area. The minister, a member of the government who heads the ministry, is appointed by the President of the Republic. They are assisted by a cabinet and have authority over the state administrations.
History
Ancien Régime (17th-18th centuries) Under the Ancien Régime, the king governed with the help of his ministers. These ministers were appointed by the king to manage different aspects of the administration. Examples include the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These ministries played a crucial role in the exercise of royal power and in the management of state affairs.
French Revolution (1789-1799) The French Revolution ended the absolute monarchy and established the First Republic in 1792. The ministerial system underwent major changes during this period. Ministers were now chosen by and accountable to the National Assembly. The role of ministries also expanded to reflect the new republican values.
Under the National Constituent Assembly, the law of April 27–May 25, 1791 abolished four existing secretaries of state —namely: the Secretary of State for War, the Secretary of State for the Navy, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and the Secretary of State for the King's Household—and replaced them with six ministers—namely: the Minister of Justice, the Minister of War, the Minister of the Navy, the Minister of the Interior, the Minister of Public Contributions and Revenues, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs —whose responsibilities it defined. The creation of ministries thus fell under the purview of the legislature.
Under the French Directory, Article of the Constitution of the Year III () reserves to the Legislative Body is to say to the Council of Five Hundred and to that of Ancients — the determination of the powers of the ministers and their number, the latter being to be at least six and at most eight.
First Empire (1804-1814) Napoleon Bonaparte established the First French Empire and reorganized the government by creating modern ministries with a more formal structure. He appointed ministers responsible for areas such as the Interior, Justice, War, Finance, and so on. These ministers were directly accountable to Napoleon and played a vital role in the administration of the Empire.
Restoration and July Monarchy (1815-1848) After Napoleon's fall, the Bourbon Restoration brought back the monarchy to France, followed by the July Monarchy. The ministerial system was reinstated, and the various regimes had different configurations, but the core ministries were maintained, such as Foreign Affairs, the Interior and Finance.
Second Republic (1848-1852) The Second Republic was proclaimed in 1848, and a provisional government was established. The existing ministries were reorganized, and new ministries were created to meet the needs of the fledgling republic.
Under Article of the French Constitution of 1848, the determination of the number of ministers and their responsibilities is reserved to the legislative power, to the National Legislative Assembly. The creation of ministries thus falls within the purview of the legislature.
Second Empire (1852-1870) Napoleon III established the Second Empire and appointed ministers to help him govern. The ministries were reorganized to strengthen the Emperor's power, and some ministries were merged to create greater centralization.
Third Republic (1870-1940) After the fall of the Second Empire in 1870, the French Third Republic was proclaimed. French ministries were reorganized to meet the requirements of a parliamentary republic. The Third Republic lasted until the German invasion of 1940 during World War II. During this period, the ministries played a vital role in the stability and governance of the country.
No provision of the constitutional laws of 1875 did not reserve to the legislature the role to determine the number and responsibilities of ministers to the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. Under the presidency of Jules Grévy, by decrees of 14 November 1881 by Léon Gambetta, President of the Council, saw the creation of three ministries: the Ministry of Agriculture, the and the .Romieu, 1892 The , as set forth by , was that every deputy had the right to introduce a to decide either the creation or the abolition of a ministry, or that in the future, the number and responsibilities of the various ministries would be fixed by law.Pierre 1924, book
Article of the law of 20 June 1920 entrusted to the French Parliament "the creation of ministries" and "the transfer of responsibilities from one ministerial department to another". However it would never be effectively implemented and will be repealed by Article of Law No. 45-01 on 24 November 1945.Granger 2013, p. 336, n. 8
Fourth Republic (1946-1958) After the end of World War II, the French Fourth Republic was established, and French ministries continued to play a central role in government. However, the Fourth Republic faced governing instability.
Fifth Republic (since 1958) In 1958, the French Fifth Republic was established with the adoption of a new constitution. This new system strengthened the role of the president, who appoints the prime minister and ministers. The ministries became more intrenched, and their structure has remained largely unchanged since then.
The titles and positions of ministries in the official hierarchy often reflect the policies pursued by each government. Similarly, the creation, modification, and (rare) merging of ministries correspond to societal changes: the merger of the Ministries of Urban Planning and Public Works to form the Ministry of Equipment in 1966, the creation of the Ministry of the Environment in the 1970s, the creation of the Ministry of Women's Rights in 1981, and the creation of the Ministry of the Social Economy.
Since the 1980s, many political figures have promised a "smaller government", but during the Fifth Republic, few governments have had fewer than 30 members.. Similarly, some politicians have wanted ministries to remain permanent.. Under the presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy, the , chaired by Édouard Balladur, after noting that the number of ministries is generally higher in France than in other democracies, nevertheless considered it "neither useful nor appropriate to stipulate that an organic law would determine the structure of the Government".Balladur Committee 2008, pp. 60-61. It was also known as the Committee for Reflection and Proposals on the Modernization and Rebalancing of the Institutions. The Committee recommended that the President of France and the Prime Minister of France should have the ability to adapt the governmental structure to current problems and to the reform of the State. It did not advocate for setting a maximum number of members of the Government by law. But in 2008, a draft constitutional revision proposed to limit the number of ministers, but this provision of the draft was rejected by the National Assembly.Patrick Gérard, State Administration, LexisNexis, 2014, p. 23
Permanent structures and variable structures However, the Constitution mentions a whole list of positions, including prefects, , and directors of central government departments. Thus, the Constitution implicitly recognizes a whole series of ministerial structures: central government departments, prefectures (and therefore, indirectly, the decentralized government departments headed by the prefect), and academies.
The number of ministries is not fixed by the Constitution or by French law. The existence of ministries results from decrees issued "". These decrees remain in force permanently, even if the first act of the executive branch, namely the formation of the government, modifies their responsibilities, structure, and name. At that time, mergers or separations may occur, formalized by new constitutive or amending decrees.
The Council of State ensures the continuity of government ministries: any modification must be submitted to it, and, as the supreme administrative court, it must know which ministry to contact to enforce one of its decisions, relating to a long-standing problem that sometimes arose long before the ministry existed, or even before the birth of the French Fifth Republic contingencies of naming are addressed in two ways:
the use of the phrase "chargé de": thus there will always be a ministry "chargé des anciens combattants", even if nothing in the government structure reminds us of this. For major ministries, the use of a permanent name, independent of the vicissitudes of speech: thus the council recognizes a "ministry of the interior" or a "ministry of agriculture", although their official names, their responsibilities and their names have changed several times.
Function Within the executive branch, powers initially concentrated at the top are gradually distributed through:
the creation, by law or decree, of autonomous structures with specialized powers: the government entrusts to other bodies (, for example) certain powers that it holds; the creation of the government, by which the prime minister provides the ministers with powers and areas of action, with the responsibility for managing the gaps and collisions if necessary; The delegation, by each minister, of the powers vested in him to other persons, since the minister cannot do everything. This is how ministries are created.
Ministries have two basic functions:
designing and supervising policies and their implementation (the normative texts, laws, regulations and decisions that materialize them): this is the task of the central administration; Implementing these policies: that is the role of decentralized services or services with national jurisdiction ().
In addition, ministries manage resources (personnel, money, etc.) and provide oversight or control, within their areas of competence, of bodies with their own powers or competencies.
Internal organization
The minister and the cabinet
The minister
At the head of the ministry is the minister (or minister of state). The recent regrouping of ministries detached over time from the Ministry of the Interior into "super-ministries" has led to the multiplication of junior ministers, secretaries of state or ministers attached to a minister, who are entrusted with the supervision of a sector of the ministry.
On the proposal of the Prime Minister, the President of the Republic appoints the other members of the Government and terminates their functions (). Appointments to the executive are made by decree.
The functions of a member of the Government are incompatible with the exercise of any parliamentary mandate, any function of professional representation of a national nature and any public employment or any professional activity (Article 23 of the Constitution).
The powers of each minister are set by decrees deliberated in the council of ministers, after consultation with the Conseil d'État, as well as the administrations over which he has authority, and those at his disposal and to which he appeals..
Members of the Government have access to both houses of the French Parliament (National Assembly and Senate). They are able to contact when they request it ().
has, since 2012, been 1.4 times the average of the highest and lowest salaries received by civil servants in state jobs classified in the "hors échelle" category..
The cabinet