Departmental council (France)
{{short description|Administrative bodies governing French départements}}
[[File:Presidents of French departments current.svg|thumb|300px|Current political majority in each departmental council:
{{legend|#dd0000|French Communist Party}}
{{legend|#ff8080|Socialist Party}}
{{legend|#ffc0c0|Miscellaneous left}}
{{legend|#ffd1dc|Radical Party of the Left}}
{{legend|#ff9900|Democratic Movement}}
{{legend|#00ffff|Union of Democrats and Independents}}
{{legend|#0066cc|The Republicans}}
{{legend|#adc1fd|Miscellaneous right}}]]
{{Politics of France}}
The departmental councils ({{langx|fr|conseils départementaux}} {{IPA|fr|kɔ̃sɛj depaʁtəmɑ̃to|}}; singular, conseil départemental {{IPA|fr|kɔ̃sɛj depaʁtəmɑ̃tal|}}) of France are representative assemblies elected by universal suffrage in 98 of the country's 101 departments.{{Efn|The other three are Guyane, Martinique, and Paris, governed by respectively the Assemblée de Guyane, the Assemblée de Martinique, and the Conseil de Paris.|group=lower-alpha}} Prior to the 2015 French departmental elections they were known as general councils (conseils généraux; singular, conseil général).{{Cite web |title=Les élections départementales : comprendre ce qui change |url=https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/Presse/Dossiers-de-presse/Dossier-de-presse-des-elections-departementales-2015/Les-elections-departementales-comprendre-ce-qui-change |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810133431/https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/Presse/Dossiers-de-presse/Dossier-de-presse-des-elections-departementales-2015/Les-elections-departementales-comprendre-ce-qui-change |archive-date=2016-08-10 |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=interieur.gouv.fr |language=fr}}
History
The Law of 22 December 1789 required the establishment of an assembly in each department, known as the council of the department.{{cite web|url=http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/histoire/images-decentralisation/decentralisation/loi-du-22-decembre-1789-.pdf|title=Law of 22 December 1789|publisher=National Assembly|access-date=2 August 2015}} This law was repealed on 4 December 1793; it was restored as the "law on the division of the territory of the Republic and its administration" on 17 February 1800, in which, "General Council of the departments" were formed.{{cite web|url=http://www.u-picardie.fr/labo/curapp/revues/root/45/Annexe.pdf_4a0d2b2344d22/Annexe.pdf|title=Law of 28 Pluviose year VIII|publisher=U-Picarde|access-date=2 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925131529/https://www.u-picardie.fr/labo/curapp/revues/root/45/Annexe.pdf_4a0d2b2344d22/Annexe.pdf|archive-date=25 September 2015|url-status=dead}} At this time, the name "General Council" was also used by town and district councils.{{cite web|url=http://revuesshs.u-bourgogne.fr/societe_francaise/docannexe.php?id=853|title=Les institutions administratives de la France de 1789 à 1800|publisher=University of Burgundy|year=1988|access-date=2 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923192919/http://revuesshs.u-bourgogne.fr/societe_francaise/docannexe.php?id=853|archive-date=23 September 2015|url-status=dead}}
The members of the general council were not elected until 1833; they were first elected by universal manhood suffrage on 3 July 1848. The first female president of a department council was Évelyne Baylet in Tarn-et-Garonne in 1970.{{cite web|url=http://www.senat.fr/evenement/archives/D35/baylet.html|title=Baylet. Women and Power|publisher=Senate of France|access-date=2 August 2015}}
Until the passing of the Law of 2 March 1982 on the rights and freedoms of communes, departments, and regions, the prefect in each department was not only the state's representative in that department but also embodied in his or her person the department's executive; since 1982, the latter function has been transferred to the president of the departmental council.{{cite web|url=http://legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000000880039|title=Law 82-213 of 2 March 1982|publisher=Legifrance|access-date=2 August 2015}}
Law 175 of 26 February 2008 states that there must be at least one candidate of each gender in all departmental council elections.{{Cite web |date=2008-02-06 |title=Law 2008-175 of 26 February 2008 |url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/id/JORFTEXT000018169045 |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=Legifrance}}
See also
Notes and references
= Notes =
{{Notelist|group=lower-alpha}}
= References =
{{reflist}}{{Departmental Councils of France}}
Category:Defunct government institutions