Conflict and Consensus in France

First published in 1979, in Conflict and Consensus in France a number of authorities on French politics examine some of the basic problems of legitimacy, consensus formation and conflict resolution which the regime continues to face after the elections of March 1978. Early in 1978 the French Fifth Republic, then twenty five years old, appeared to be facing a major political and constitutional crisis. That crisis did not materialize as the result of the totally unexpected defeat of the left in th