Essay on "French Rigidity"

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What policy changes ought to be made and how must the government and population take steps? The France appears to be rigid in this issue because its government has not taken any visible step to solving the Parisian knot. There are issues that pertain to the immigrants that are delicate and needs to be addressed. For example there ought to be a through study on why the integration of immigrants into France failed. It is not only because of the 'rigidity'. There are many undercurrents that have not yet even been looked into.

1. What do you believe is the source of French rigidity, whether in response to challenges from the global economy or the need to incorporate new groups of citizens into French society?

The question about French rigidity ought to be looked into in the context of the nation being flooded by immigrants from all over the globe. Historically France did not favor immigration unlike Britain which promoted immigration from the colonies in the colonial days. The French did not anticipate that one day they would have to face the problem of their dependencies creating an influx into the country. The immigrant is a stranger, at least for a generation. Normally the second and third generations orient themselves to the adapted state. This we see has happened in the U.S., UK and some other countries. It did not however happen so in France. (Favell, 2001)

Frenchmen and the immigrants have not been able to find common ground. Or is that view correct? There has been xenophobia exhibited in other countries too. In France the falling employment levels and ostracizing of the immigrant population who are left to fend for themselves seems to be the problem. It can be said to be apathy to their plight rater than rigidity. The problem thus can be analyzed using the political, social, and immigrant status in France.

Political and Economic Models:

The political history of France shows that there was a peculiar model of the state for France. There is social autonomy that is created by three different aspects that ensure uninterrupted functioning. There is the legal autonomy that creates and enforces many unique rules and the common law: the physical or executive autonomy that is shown in the polity. There also exists a symbolic autonomy that concerns itself with civic questions that particular interests of the private sphere will not address. France's deeply rooted tradition of interventionism makes it look rigid and different from the other states. (Chevallier, 1996)

"Already under the absolutist regime, the state had broad and diversified functions, not only those associated with the monarchy but also social, cultural, and economic functions. This interventionism did not weaken at any time during the 19th century. This notion of the state was obviously propitious for the development of an administrative science. On the one hand, the sharp differentiation between the state and society implied the need to create a specific body of knowledge concerning public administration, with no question of diluting it in a more general science of organization." (Chevallier, 1996) Unfortunately the administrative machinery has tended to be highly rigid on this account and poses some of the problems that France is facing.

In comparing the political model of France with Italy, Boltho (2001) shows that about fifty years ago France and Italy were opposite poles so far as their economies were concerned. At that time Italy had more unemployment, while France had full employment situation with the industry had greater productivity than Italy. Then during the beginning of nineteen sixty, France changed the economic policy to that of interventionism. While Italy was also having smaller intervention by the state, its economy was governed by the market forces. France had the economy controlled by the state with the nationalizations and national plan. (Boltho, 2001) the economic policies of the state which the politicians become actively involved are aware that tax policies and state enterprises have election values. From the 1980s however there has been a change with France giving a free market policy with minimal intervention and seems to have come into the mainstream capitalism. (Boltho, 2001)

Though the French economy was stable and consequently provided more opportunities for immigrants, in the beginning of the millennium there was the signs of economic decline in the air. In the book 'La France qui tombe (France Is Falling Over)' Nicolas Baverez the French historian and economist has pointed out at the economic and political decline of France. This book thus was the subject of much debate and Boucher (2004) concurs that there was no doubt that politically and economically the country was in the decline. Politicians blamed it on the wrong social innovations like the 35-hour work week, especially the leftists who themselves were in power from 1997 to 2002. The government that is in power is always paralyzed by fear of public wrath and losing face with the voters. The truth as is argued by Boucher is thus somewhere in between. (Boucher, 2004)

Taking up the arguments that France is slow in adapting to new realities, like the unification of Germany, technology revolution and globalization. This feeling probably made the people vote for French President Jacques Chirac in 2002. The electorate however is not happy over the domestic policy that has taken the back seat while the government pursued foreign policy and neglected state reforms. There is also the contention that France remains frozen in a Cold War mindset. Added to that we have the French leaders who decry the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the activities of the Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden as the next threat t be projected in the vacuum created by the dissolution of the Soviet Union. (Boucher, 2004)

On the other hand Britain has more clout in the world arena and more in the Central and Eastern Europe. Thus the capital city of France is today in shambles. (Martel, 2001) There have been numerous political and social scandals. Other than these, the right management of the city has also been sharply criticized. Today Paris is likely to become a ghost tow on account of the high rent and the absence of funding for housing for low- and middle-income families. They have thus been made to move suburban developments and this creates commuting problems to work. (Martel, 2001) There are campaigns to make France "a model of democracy" and give Paris back its former demographic mixture. How far it works out remains to be seen.

Political problems of France as a democracy seem also to have a larger effect on the current problems. It also shows why it appears rigid from a global view point. An Australian's view back in 1996 by McIntyre (1996) still holds good so far as the position of France in the global context is concerned. Starting with the fact that political extremes are tolerated in France, even if it is threat to the country itself. Thus "Le Pen's National Front Party co-exists with a Stalinist Communist Party that has not, unlike in Australia and the United States, been subjected to witch hunts." (McIntyre, 1996) This liberality could be interpreted as true freedom or just apathy. There appears to be gender bias and bias to colored people. Further Andrew… READ MORE