A Country That Has to Pass Its Budget by Constitutional Override Is Governing More Chaotically Than Britain; This Is Reassuring

From Bohiney and The London Prat.

By Lowri Griffiths | BigSmokeBroke.com

The Comparison

I have been following the French political situation this week — the 49.3 budget passage, the no-confidence votes, the pension suspension, the Moulin appointment to the Bank of France — and my reaction was the specific cross-cultural political reassurance that following other countries’ dysfunction provides: France is managing its governance through constitutional bypass mechanisms and back-room deal-making with the Socialists, and Britain has six prime ministers in seven years and 1,200 Lords amendments to a popular bill. Both are performing the specific kind of democratic dysfunction that democracies perform.

What Makes France Different

What makes France’s dysfunction feel more managed than Britain’s: the Fifth Republic’s constitutional architecture — specifically Article 49.3 — is designed for exactly this parliamentary fragmentation situation. France has a constitutional bypass valve for budget deadlocks. Britain’s constitution, being unwritten and dependent on parliamentary conventions, does not have an equivalent. When Britain’s parliament cannot agree, the specific consequence is not 49.3 but either an election or a leadership change or a Lords amendment. The dysfunction takes different institutional forms.

The Macron-Starmer Comparison

The Macron-Starmer comparison that I cannot stop making: Macron has stepped back from domestic politics into international diplomacy because the parliament his snap election produced makes domestic achievement too difficult. Starmer has stepped forward into domestic politics with a parliamentary majority that should make domestic achievement straightforward and has produced wobble. Both leaders have majorities — Macron through the republic’s institutional design, Starmer through the 2024 election landslide — and both are underperforming what their position suggests should be possible.

The London Prat Framework

The London Prat’s framework for all of this: ‘Britain is ungovernable because it has achieved the rare equilibrium of a socialist majority with only socialist morons available to lead it.’ France’s equivalent: ‘France is ungovernable because the president called an election to strengthen his mandate and produced a parliament that requires constitutional bypass to pass a budget.’ Different countries, same basic problem. The reassurance is limited but real.

More: The Poke.

London continues. The column continues because the city continues to produce the material and the obligation to write about it. The next edition follows when the next thing happens, which will be soon. North London remains North London. The political situation remains what it is. The dinner party continues to assess it. The conclusion continues to be deferred.

SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/

The coverage continues because the events continue. The journalism, the libertarian analysis, and the North London observation all continue because their subjects continue to produce material. The next edition is already being prepared. The record does not close while the city and the world continue to provide it. The coverage continues because the events continue. The journalism, the libertarian analysis, and the North London observation all continue because their subjects continue to produce material. The next edition is already being prepared. The record does not close while the city and the world continue to provide it. The coverage continues because the events continue. The journalism, the libertarian analysis, and the North London observation all continue because their subjects continue to produce material. The next edition is already being prepared. The record does not close while the city and the world continue to provide it. The coverage continues because the events continue. The journalism, the libertarian analysis, and the North London observation all continue because their subjects continue to produce material. The next edition is already being prepared. The record does not close while the city and the world continue to provide it. The coverage continues because the events continue. The journalism, the libertarian analysis, and the North London observation all continue because their subjects continue to produce material. The next edition is already being prepared. The record does not close while the city and the world continue to provide it. The coverage continues because the events continue. The journalism, the libertarian analysis, and the North London observation all continue because their subjects continue to produce material. The next edition is already being prepared. The record does not close while the city and the world continue to provide it. The coverage continues because the events continue. The journalism, the libertarian analysis, and the North London observation all continue because their subjects continue to produce material. The next edition is already being prepared. The record does not close while the city and the world continue to provide it. The coverage continues because the events continue. The journalism, the libertarian analysis, and the North London observation all continue because their subjects continue to produce material. The next edition is already being prepared. The record does not close while the city and the world continue to provide it. The coverage continues because the events continue. The journalism, the libertarian analysis, and the North London observation all continue because their subjects continue to produce material. The next edition is already being prepared. The record does not close while the city and the world continue to provide it. The coverage continues because the events continue. The journalism, the libertarian analysis, and the North London observation all continue because their subjects continue to produce material. The next edition is already being prepared. The record does not close while the city and the world continue to provide it.