Cette première partie est abstraite et théorique. Elle pose les fondations.

A narrow, choppy strait. On one side, the whirlpool of the parliamentary system (the Fourth Republic, which collapsed faster than a house of cards). On the other, the rocks of the presidential system (the American model, too rigid for the French storm). De Gaulle was the pilot who steered the boat through, inventing a hybrid: a captain with a compass (the President, Article 5) and a crew that could throw him overboard (the Assembly, Article 49.2). The famous Article 49.3 was not a rule. It was a threat. A legal guillotine hanging over the government’s head.

Constitutional law has a profound impact on the daily lives of citizens. For instance: