France: has a discrete recentralization scored five victories?
Résumé
There are words and there are deeds. In 1982, after centuries of a centralized political system, France set out to decentralize by granting local authorities more prerogatives and freedom to take action. In 2003, it added new wording to its Constitution: “Its organization is decentralized” . So is this now true? Would it not be more accurate to argue that France has in fact quietly disregarded this constitutional statement of intent and discretely shifted control back to the centre? Here is our five-point answer.