section_path: Politics
section_name: Politics
paragraph_text: Politics
  
  France is a representative democracy organised as a unitary semi-presidential republic. Democratic traditions and values are deeply rooted in French culture, identity and politics. The Constitution of the Fifth Republic was approved by referendum in 1958, establishing a framework consisting of executive, legislative and judicial branches. It sought to address the instability of the Third and Fourth Republics by combining elements of both the parliamentary and presidential systems, while greatly strengthening the authority of the executive relative to the legislature.