the president is the head of the government in france.
who is the head of the government in france?
the president
in semi-presidential systems, the head of government may answer to both the head of state and the legislature, with the specifics provided by each country's constitution. a modern example is the present french government, which originated as the french fifth republic in 1958. in france, the president, the head of state, appoints the prime minister, who is the head of government. however, the president must choose someone who can act effectively as an executive, but who also enjoys the support of the france's legislature, the national assembly, in order to be able to pass legislation. in some cases, the head of state may represent one political party but the majority in the national assembly is of a different party. given that the majority party has greater control over state funding and primary legislation, the president is in effect forced to choose a prime minister from the opposition party in order to ensure an effective, functioning legislature. in this case, known as cohabitation, the prime minister, along with the cabinet, controls domestic policy, with the president's influence largely restricted to foreign affairs.
head of government
a head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially represents the national unity and legitimacy of a sovereign state. depending on the country's form of government and separation of powers, the head of state may be a ceremonial figurehead or concurrently the head of government. in a parliamentary system, such as india, the head of state usually has mostly ceremonial powers, with a separate head of government. however in some parliamentary systems, like south africa, there is an executive president that is both head of state and head of government. likewise, in some parliamentary systems the head of state is not the head of government, but still has significant powers, for example morocco. in contrast, a semi-presidential system, such as france, has both heads of state and government as the "de facto" leaders of the nation (in practice they divide the leadership of the nation among themselves). meanwhile, in presidential systems such as the united states, the head of state is also the head of government.
head of state