Among the most significant factors in understanding interaction between interest groups and the state are those dealing with the overall structure of interest groups and the basic relationship between groups and the state. In chapter 2, the summary of variations among different models of interest-group politics found a number of important structural distinctions: the number of interest groups likely to seek a political role, the extent of competition within social sectors, the degree of autonomy available to the groups and/or the state, the relationship between group elites and their memberships, and the professional nature of the organization and its staff. Clearly, these are important issues in determining which pattern most closely resembles actual practice in France and also in explaining the nature and significance of interest-group/government interaction.

Numbers of interest groups

As we saw in the lengthy listing of major interest groups in chapters 3 and 4, the number of interest groups active in Fifth Republic politics is very large and growing rapidly. The formation of new interest groups is free from government control. Groups must register with the ministry of interior but the ministry cannot refuse to accept any applications. Registration is a procedure by which groups acquire legal identity thus enabling them to rent office space or open a bank account. It is not a source of direct or indirect government monitoring of the creation of new groups. An earlier requirement in 1884 that trade unions register elicited concerns from union leaders that it might be a police trap. One trade-union leader complained at the time: “It puts us in the same situation as streetwalkers.”