Alexis Charles Henri Clérel, comte de Tocqueville, colloquially known as Tocqueville, was a French aristocrat, diplomat, political scientist, political philosopher and historian. He is best known for his works Democracy in America and The Old Regime and the Revolution (1856). In both, he analyzed the living standards and social conditions of individuals as well as their relationship to the market and state in Western societies. Democracy in America was published after Tocqueville's travels in the United States and is today considered an early work of sociology and political science.
François Pierre Guillaume Guizot was a French historian, orator, and statesman. Guizot was a dominant figure in French politics prior to the Revolution of 1848.
Orléanist was a 19th-century French political label originally used by those who supported a constitutional monarchy expressed by the House of Orléans. Due to the radical political changes that occurred during that century in France, three different phases of Orléanism can be identified:
The French Second Republic, officially the French Republic, was the republican government of France that existed between 1848 and 1852. It was established in February 1848, with the February Revolution that overthrew the July Monarchy of King Louis-Phillipe, and ended in December 1852. Following the election of President Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte in 1848 and the 1851 coup d'état the president staged, Bonaparte proclaimed himself Emperor Napoleon III and initiated the Second French Empire. The short-lived republic officially adopted the motto of the First Republic; Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité.
The current Constitution of France was adopted on 4 October 1958. It is typically called the Constitution of the Fifth Republic(French: Constitution de la Ve République), and it replaced the Constitution of the Fourth Republic of 1946 with the exception of the preamble per a Constitutional Council decision in July 1971. The current Constitution regards the separation of church and state, democracy, social welfare, and indivisibility as core principles of the French state.
The Constitutional Council is the highest constitutional authority in France. It was established by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic on 4 October 1958 to ensure that constitutional principles and rules are upheld. It is housed in the Palais-Royal, Paris. Its main activity is to rule on whether proposed statutes conform with the Constitution, after they have been voted by Parliament and before they are signed into law by the President of the Republic.
The Great Seal of France is the official seal of the French Republic. After the 1792 revolution established the First French Republic, the insignia of the monarchy was removed from the seal. Over time, the new seal changed. At first, it featured Marianne, symbol of the revolution. It evolved to show that the people developed their culture and politics. In modern times, it depicts liberty, along with aspects of culture such as art, education, and agriculture.
Olivier Le Cour Grandmaison, is a French political scientist and author whose work chiefly centres on colonialism. He is best known for his book Coloniser, Exterminer - Sur la guerre et l'Etat colonial.
The June Days uprising was an uprising staged by French civilians from 22 to 26 June 1848. It was in response to plans to close the National Workshops, created by the Second Republic in order to provide work and a minimal source of income for the unemployed. The National Guard, led by General Louis-Eugène Cavaignac, was called out to quell the rebellion. Over 10,000 people were either killed or injured, while 4,000 insurgents were deported to French Algeria. The uprising marked the end of the hopes of a "Democratic and Social Republic" and the victory of the liberals over the Radical Republicans.
The French Revolution of 1848, also known as the February Revolution, was a brief period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation of the French Second Republic. It sparked the wave of revolutions of 1848.
Charles Constantin Pecqueur was a French economist, socialist theoretician and politician. He participated in the Revolution of 1848 and influenced Karl Marx.
Pascal Pierre Duprat (1815–1885) was a French journalist and politician with republican beliefs. He was elected as a deputy to the Constituent and Legislative Assemblies during the second Republic. He was an opponent of Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte.
The Left in France was represented at the beginning of the 20th century by two main political parties, namely the Republican, Radical and Radical-Socialist Party and the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO), created in 1905 as a merger of various Marxist parties.
Jean-Martial Bineau was a French engineer and politician who promoted the early development of railways in France. He was Minister of Public Works during the French Second Republic, and served as Minister of Finance from 1852 to 1855 under the Emperor Napoleon III. He pushed through measures to increase revenues and contain expenditures in the face of opposition from the legislature.
Michel Goudchaux was a French banker and politician who was twice Minister of Finance during the French Second Republic. A firm Republican, he refused to accept the government of Napoleon III.
Ferdinand Flocon was a French journalist and politician who was one of the founding members of the Provisional Government at the start of the French Second Republic in 1848. He was Minister of Agriculture and Commerce for the Executive Commission of 1848. He opposed Louis Napoleon and was forced into exile in the Second French Empire (1852–1870).
The vice president of the Republic was an office that existed in France only during the Second Republic (1848–1852), and only ever had one holder, Henri Georges Boulay de la Meurthe, elected in January 1849.
The Conférence Molé was a French debating society founded in 1832. In 1876 it became the Conférence Molé-Tocqueville. Its purpose was to debate legislation, administration, political economy and general politics. The debates were modeled on parliamentary procedures and served to train future politicians. The society also provided a venue where young men of the élite could meet and become known by established political figures. The society became dormant in the 1970s but was revived in the 1990s.
The Constitution of the French Republic of 27 October 1946 was the constitution of the French Fourth Republic.
