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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 September 2013
Since over 80 new ministers have entered French cabinets subsequent to the period covered in a previous article in this REVIEW, the figures supplied therein may well be brought down more closely to date. During the 805 months between February 19, 1871, and March 13, 1938, 434 persons, under-secretaries excluded, have formed the 106 separately appointed or reappointed councils of ministers. The question as to how many different cabinets France has had under the Third Republic may be left to metaphysicians. Almost every newly-appointed Conseil contains a large percentage of those who served in its predecessor. Cabinets which resign upon the election of a new president of the Republic are frequently reappointed in toto. Some cabinets have served for only a few days.
2 “The Personnel of French Cabinets, 1871–1930,” in the issue of May, 1931, pp. 389–396.
3 The cabinets and their personnel have been compiled from appointments recorded in the files of the Journal Officiel. The cabinets mentioned below have been counted twice, although, save for one change of personnel in one of them when reappointed, the personnel remained exactly the same: Dupuy cabinets (30 May 1894–27 June 1894; 1 July 1894–14 Jan. 1895); Dupuy cabinets (1 Nov. 1898–18 Feb. 1899; 18 Feb. 1899–12 June 1899); Rouvier cabinets (24 Jan. 1905–18 Feb. 1906; 18 Feb. 1906–7 Mar. 1906); Briand cabinets (21 Jan. 1913–18 Feb. 1913; 18 Feb. 1913–18 Mar. 1913); Millerand cabinets (20 Jan. 1920–18 Feb. 1920; 18 Feb. 1920–23 Sept. 1920); and the Laval cabinets (27 Jan. 1931–13 June 1931; 13 June 1931–14 Jan. 1932). Some, but not all, cabinets resign upon the election of a new president of the Republic and are usually reappointed.
4 Joseph-Barthélemy, and Duez, Paul, in Traité de droit constitutionnel (Paris, 1933), p. 719Google Scholar, have compiled a list of eight who have this distinction, but they have included Dujardin-Beaumetz, who was only an under-secretary, and have counted Mougeot's under-secretaryship previous to his becoming minister. M. Ruau, on their list, was minister of agriculture exclusively, and is not among the 41 mentioned above. Of the 41 included here, therefore, only Barthou, Briand, de Freycinet, Delcassé, and Cochery served long continuous terms.
5 Joseph-Barthélemy, , Essai sur le travail parlementaire et le système des commissions (Paris, 1934), pp. 63–64Google Scholar.
6 Joseph-Barthélemy calls attention to “tardy” resignations which occasion no loss of membership in parliamentary commissions—provided the new cabinet has only a short tenure. There is no indication in the Journal Officiel that members of commissions on either projects or propositions of law ever resigned because of appointment to the council of ministers.
7 The Journal Officiel carries no notice of the expiration of committees.
8 Gooch, R. K., The French Parliamentary Committee System (New York, 1935), p. 98Google Scholar. This excellent study summarizes the facts on the duration of commissions, pp. 96–104.
9 The number of newly-elected deputies is comparatively large in France, particularly when changes are made in the electoral laws. The proportion of such deputies, in percentages, runs as follows: in 1885, 49.2; in 1889, 46.2; in 1893, 36.8; in 1898, 36.1; in 1902, 33; in 1906, 26.3; in 1910, 34.5; in 1914, 31.6; in 1919, 59.1; in 1924, 44.5; in 1928, 50.1; in 1932, 34; and in 1936, 44.2.
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