A history of the French Senate; v.1: The third republic 1870-1940.0773461310 A history of the French Senate; v.1: The third republic 1870-1940. Smith, Paul. Edwin Mellen Pr. 2005 518 pages $139.95 Hardcover Studies in French civilization civilization, culture with a relatively high degree of elaboration and technical development. The term civilization also designates that complex of cultural elements that first appeared in human history between 8,000 and 6,000 years ago. ; v.39 JN2826 Smith (French, U. of Nottingham) examines the complexities longest-lived French republic through its Senate, a remarkable body that survived 108 ministries over its 70 years. What is more remarkable is that it was an elite legislative body in a democratic political system, represented local interests in a centralized government A centralized government is the form of government in which power is concentrated in a central authority to which local governments are subject. Centralization occurs both geographically and politically. , and that it managed to reconcile, after a fashion, royalists and republicans who were otherwise at each others' throats. He explains how political reforms of the 1870s created the bicameral system bicameral system (bīkăm`ərəl), governmental system dividing the legislative function between two chambers, an "upper," such as the U.S. Senate and the British House of Lords, and a "lower," such as the U.S. of which the Senate was an essential part, how seats were apportioned ap·por·tion tr.v. ap·por·tioned, ap·por·tion·ing, ap·por·tions To divide and assign according to a plan; allot: "The tendency persists to apportion blame as suits the circumstances" , how one became a Senator (including rank nepotism nep·o·tism n. Favoritism shown or patronage granted to relatives, as in business. [French népotisme, from Italian nepotismo, from nepote, nephew, from Latin ), how parties and factions operated, how efforts to change or reform the senate fared, and how the Senate faced the obvious in 1940. ([c] 2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR) |
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