mandate he or she holds. A cabinet minister can exercise a maximum of two local mandates in addition to his or her government function. For example, the prime minister, a minister or secretary of state can be mayor, or president of a general, regional or intercommunal council or sit in one of these assemblies. Currently, over two-thirds of the members of the French government are engaged in one or two more local mandates. Purpose and frequency The rationales for holding multiple offices are varied. Holding a seat in the Senate, National Assembly, or European Parliament gives local mayors a valuable method of tapping funds to develop their home cities and regions. It also can give opportunities to curry favor with other important officials, with opportunities at each level. Salaries for positions can be combined (to a point) as well. For politicians with national ambitions, retaining a position in a local town can give them a down-to-earth aura that can appeal to voters. These advantages have made politicians very wary of reducing the practice of the cumul with legislation despite other moves to end perceptions of favoritism and corruption among politicians. It has been common practice in France since the Third Republic (1870). But there are also many cases of "cumul" before this period, for example, the writer Alexis de Tocqueville was a member from 1839 to 1851. In 1849 he was appointed Foreign Affairs minister, and at the same time he was elected President of the General Council of Manche from 1849 to 1851 (councillor from 1842 to 1852). There are several reasons for this phenomenon, and one of them is that France has a long tradition of centralization, compared to countries such as Germany, Italy, and Spain. Local governments have fewer powers and resources than the those possessed by the Länder of Germany, or Autonomous Communities of Spain possess. The local mandates in France are less important than in other countries, and therefore politicians have more time to devote to a parliamentary mandate. The cumul is a widespread practice and has grown much more prevalent in modern France. In 1946, 36 percent of deputies in the National Assembly held an additional office. By 1956, this number had already increased to 42 percent and by 1970, 70 percent of deputies held an additional elected office; in 1988, 96 percent did. Many of the most prominent politicians in France make use