Conseil régional - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A Regional Council is the elected assembly of a region

Régions of France

France is divided into 27 administrative regions , 22 of which are in Metropolitan France, and five of which are overseas. Corsica is a territorial collectivity , but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website...

of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

History

Regional councils were created by law on 5 July 1972. Originally they were simply consultative bodies consisting of the region's parliamentary representatives plus an equal number of members nominated by the departments and municipalities. The decentralisation programme of 1982-1983 provided for direct election which began in 1986 and increased the powers of the Councils. Actual councils will be disbanded in 2014, and they will be substitued by the union of the General Councils

General councils (France)

The General councils are assemblies of the French departments. They are elected by universal suffrage.-List of the Presidents of the General councils:-External links:*...

of each region.

Operation

The Assemblies elect their own Presidents who preside over the meetings and head the Regional Executive.

Before 2004

Between 1986 and 2004, regional councils were elected by Closed list

Closed list

Closed list describes the variant of party-list proportional representation where voters can only vote for political parties as a whole and thus have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected...

Proportional Representation

Proportional representation

Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...

. The National Front was frequently left with the balance of power as a result and this led to a change in the electoral law.

Since 2004

Since 2004 three quarters of the seats continue to be elected by proportional representation with each list having an equal number of male and female candidates. The other quarter are given to the list that received the most votes. In order to gain these top up seats, a list must have gained an absolute majority of the votes in the first round. If this has not been achieved a second round is held with each party that gained at least ten percent of the votes competing. The party that wins a plurality in this round gains the bonus seats. It is common in this round for lower ranking parties to withdraw in favour of parties they have entered into an alliance with.

This can however potentially mean that a list that gained fewer votes in the first round and thus fewer proportional seats can end up the overall winner.

List of councils

Alsace Regional Council
Alsace Regional Council
The Alsace Regional Council is the Conseil régional of Alsace . It is chaired by Philippe Richert. It includes 47 members.-By party:-2004:-1998:-1992:-1986:-Past Presidents:* André Bord * Pierre Schiélé...
Regional Council of Brittany
Corsican Assembly
Corsican Assembly
The Corsican Assembly is the unicameral legislative body of the territorial collectivity of Corsica. It has its seat at the Grand Hôtel d'Ajaccio et Continental, in the Corsican capital of Ajaccio.-History:...

(collectivité territoriale)

External links

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