Abstract

The «fait majoritaire», so called «majority fact» ensures the French Fifth Republic its stability. As a consequence of the President's direct election and of the voting procedure for parliamentary elections, it ensures the President's domination upon the other institutions: the President's power is linked to the majority he can count on at the National Assembly. Thus the «fait majoritaire» is not homogenous and may know some variations, with consequences on the President's ability to lead. With one political group representing only one political party and having the absolute majority at the National Assembly, President François Hollande seemed to have an «absolute fait majoritaire» at the beginning of his term. But today this «fait majoritaire» has turned into a «fait majoritaire with internal protest» (so called «fait majoritaire contestataire»), with consequences on the political and institutional balance of the Fifth Republic.