Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-8bljj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-16T11:32:34.847Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

3 - Political history of Île-de-France, 1789– 2001

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 December 2023

Christian Lefèvre
Affiliation:
École d’Urbanisme de Paris
Get access

Summary

The political history of Île-de-France is a subject of debate, in particular because historical studies are still lacking or incomplete on a number of topics. According to many historians (Fourcaut et al. 2006), for example, there is a considerable imbalance between the number of historical studies on Paris, which are very numerous, and the much smaller number on its suburbs. This chapter takes no sides and forms no part of a debate between historians, since I have neither the legitimacy nor the desire to do so. The aim is rather, as a preliminary to the chapters that follow, to help readers understand the historical background to the system and political organization of Île-de-France and to identify the aspects that partly explain the main public policies pursued up to the present day (Chapter 6) and the problems of the relations between the actors concerned (Chapter 7). Three national factors and three factors specific to the situation of Île-de-France are worth noting in this respect.

First, France – and Île-de-France is no exception to the rule – has a political culture ruled by neocorporatism; in other words, a conception of the relations between actors in which the state appears dominant and in which it grants certain organizations a monopoly to represent the interests of social and economic forces. For example, the chambers of commerce and industry (CCIs) are entitled to represent the private economic sector, and in this capacity they are the primary interlocutors for government and local authorities in all public policies that affect companies. The outcome of this is the establishment of a comprehensive, highly institutionalized system of representational bodies, which plays an important role in territorial governance and in the governance of Île-de-France in particular.

Second, France's political and institutional system is largely based on state domination. It is historically well known that France is a highly centralized unitary nation in which the state possesses primary legitimacy and political authority, which it exercises across the country through a whole array of institutions and agencies under its control. Since this set-up is largely inherited from the Napoleonic era, it is what is usually called the Napoleonic system.

Type
Chapter
Information
Paris , pp. 43 - 70
Publisher: Agenda Publishing
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×