Cercle (French colonial) would still fall under the Indigénat. The "Lamine Guèye law" of 7 April 1946 formally extended citizenship across the empire, indigènes included. Third, the law of 20 September 1947 removed the two tier court system and mandated equal access to public employment. Reduced to a political subdivision roughly equivalent to a French department and stripped of the personal power of the Cercle Commander system, the Cercle name retained enough imperial connotations to be changed by most nations upon independence to Departments or Sub-Prefectures. Mali is the only nation in Sub-Saharan Africa to retain the name Cercle for its second level
French Colonial Union Colonial Union displayed an organization that was focused on change and advancement. The success of the French Colonial Union would directly influence the French colonies, and how France dealt with them. The French Colonial Union’s policy on membership was that it would not accept new members for the sake of numbers. The French Colonial Union’s goal was not to increase its numbers, but to increase its influence and impact through action not population. A few of its most prominent members include the first French Colonial President Emile Mercet and the Secretary General, for about twenty years, Joseph Chailley-Bert -one of