Assignment: In Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong, read
the chapters assigned below. Write a response, following the
Reader Response Guidelines (above). React to and comment upon
at least two of your classmates responses.
Chapter 11: “Since local powers are seen as a threat
to France’s unity, the French government systematically strips local
communities of their political liberties” (146). Why? How does this statement fit in with what
you have learned in previous chapters? Compare and contrast this model with
your knowledge of the US.
Chapter 11 easily ties into the past few chapters that we were asked to read about Charles de Gaulle, absolutism, and the universal control of the Republic. France has many different towns, regions, and departments (states). From the outside, it might seem like it has a similar government structure to the United States, but there is a major difference. There are only “administrations” in these various levels throughout the country. The only true government system belongs to the Federal Government, and the other positions act as honorary roles in society. This is such a shocking system to have. I feel that Absolutism most definitely stands out in this situation. For example, the Federal Government was so set against any one region standing out to much so it created boundary lines in order to remove major cities from a region that it had always belonged to. I see some of the benefits to a system like this, but to an extent, I can see this as being oppressive. When a city cannot even control dog desiccation laws, then I feel there is a serious problem. The United States is nothing like this system at all. We have federal, state, and local governments. Each layer develops its own laws and procedures that have a way of working together. Now there are times when these systems clash, but essentially it works. I feel that this system does have its merits because it is able to make laws that apply to a certain culture of people in a certain region. The French have laws that apply to the entire country, which can be difficult since not every area is the same. Each area has its own dynamic, which needs laws to be made specifically for them. I believe a perfect example of this is Guadalupe, which is failing economically because they are not able to speak for themselves. The main question that keeps floating around in my head is has France gone too far?
RépondreSupprimerFrance is very diverse, and I'm surprised that their current system is still around. I wonder how the French feel about all of this. Are their needs on a local level being taken care of? I wonder if anything will change soon as far as how the government operates.
SupprimerI too wonder if the French government has gone to far in extending its power over the French citizens. This idea of absolutism and a strong central government is almost foreign to American citizens since we answer to local governments on a daily basis.
SupprimerYes I'm also wondering if France's penchant for absolutism is too strong; it seems like there are many problems that could potentially arise and comes off (as Rachel said) as oppressive. That being said, the current state of the US government is no better. Unfortunately I don't think it's possible to have a perfect governmental system where everyone is happy, at least not in a big country like France or the US
SupprimerChapter 11 opens by saying that Parisians are not cleaning up their “dog-dirt,” and eventually this inspired French authorities to hand out fines. Surprisingly, however, only four fines were handed out in one year. This is because Paris does not have its own police force, but instead has a system of police that is more or less like the FBI here in the United States. Currently, only regions in France that have fewer than ten thousand inhabitants are allowed their own police force, since they are not seen as “a threat.” This is to avoid conflict, like potential mobs who want to dismantle power systems in Paris, which is the ultimate destination of a lot of public transportation throughout the entire country. The mayors of communes throughout France basically do mandatory work for the government for free. The example in the book was that a mayor would take care of getting a school built or maintained, but the Ministry of Education would decide on the curriculum being taught. The United States does not have a system like this, mainly because there is not one set curriculum that is taught in every school in every state. We have the federal government, but also state governments and local governments, which allow us to have more freedom to decide what is right for each area or state, that is, if certain bills can pass or not. I think that France is incredibly restrictive, because different areas of the countries are going to have different needs than others (the author described in the first chapter or introduction that France is diverse, such as having permanent glaciers and volcanoes). Centralization is not completely horrible, as it does bring together French inhabitants to share the same holidays, for example, although there can definitely be improvements so that the people of France can be accommodated for.
RépondreSupprimerI was also surprised with the number of fines that had been written out to combat the "dog-dirt" problem. It would seem that the French State is not too worried about the state of their sidewalks and roads, otherwise they would become a bit more lax in their plight against local governments, especially when the government is trying to clean this type of mess.
Supprimeri would agree with you that France is very restrictive. i think that they should give more power to the local governments because they know what is best for their areas.
SupprimerSean M. Taylor
RépondreSupprimerFRN 101
November 6, 2014
Reader Response #10
Chapter Eleven in, Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong, revolves around explaining France’s difficult situation involving local governments, or the lack thereof. As I understand, the French infrastructure is similar to the United States; communes (refers to any municipality: a village, town, or city. There are 36,851 communes.), Départements (similar to American states. There are 99 Départements.), and Régions (which, in my opinion, are comparable to the American regions of the Midwest, New England, Southeast, etc., except, Régions are appointed préfets, who are in charge of the administration in the Départements). The idea behind this was to draw boundaries that would get rid of the local sense of community, yet, anyone living in a federation experiences community as being sovereign, making its own laws and managing its own affairs. However, unlike in the United States, “the French can only be citizens of thing: the one and indivisible Republic” (Nadeau 146). In order to accomplish this, the French State eliminated local power, languages, and any sense of community. One example of this is the inability of French cities, with a population of over ten-thousand citizens, to be striped of having their own police because they would be considered a threat to the State. In comparison to the previous chapters, Chapter Eleven strengthens the ideals of absolutism, and universal control over the French citizens.
I think the “the French can only be citizens of thing: the one and indivisible Republic” quote is really interesting. I feel like most Americans identify with their states very strongly, in addition to identifying with America as a whole. At this point in my life, I'm not sure I could merge my Illinois heritage into my American heritage, they are separate in my head.
SupprimerBut yeah, I also think this chapter stongly shows France's inclination towards absolutism
i think that the idea that people in France can only be one thing is a good and a bad thing. its good because it crease a sense that everyone is equal and a greater sense of community. it can be bad though because then there is no diversity and people can't learn from different back rounds. i also think thats why people hold on to the food of their region so much because they want to feel a connection to wear they came from.
SupprimerChapter 11 is all about local governments. Because of the ideal of the State, local governments don’t have a lot of power. The mayor of each city does not have many things that they are allowed to do. In fact, they have communes that watch over them to make sure they are doing their job correctly. Communes are from the countries government and only have the entire country in mind. As we learned in earlier chapters the State is the identity of France. It is like the Declaration of Independence and the US. In franc everyone turns to the state for the answers. The French government strives to have an identity that is the same though out the country. In the United States we are proud for our diversity. By having local governments in France that make the country less consistent as you travel. Having general laws that apply to the entire country is a good thing for a small country like France. You don’t want to be traveling and have different set of laws every 20 min that you drive. The bad thing about this is that only the national government can make changes to local areas and the mayor has few things they are in charge of. I think they should give more power to the mayors because they would know best what needs to be changed in their own areas. For example, the dog owners not cleaning up the dog waist in Paris. The mayor of Paris knows that there needs to be people that can enforce the fine for not picking up your dog dirt but the government wont let Paris have it’s own police force.
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