Sunday, June 17, 2012

More elections...


It's Sunday and we're voting again... Not for the President - he was elected a month ago - but for our Representatives at the Assemblée Nationale (French Parliament). We have no less than 577 "députés" (Representatives), whereas Germany a,d the UK have roughly 600 - and only 435 in the US. They not only vote the laws but also manage their "Circonscription" (regional councilConstituency). They remain in power for 5 years, unless the President of the Republic calls for new elections, which is extremely rare. This photo shows the back of the Assemblée Nationale, which is rarely shown, even though it's worth the look...

11 comments:

  1. Thanks for showing us the back - I love the statue. I also get a kick out of the cars parked in the left side of the picture. I guess the one in the middle is stuck there!

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  2. I didn't know one could get to the back. Learn something new every day.

    I told some friends of mine about PDP today. They will visit Paris in September.

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  3. I love this B&W - there's something 40's about it even with all the modern equip - lighting and grain, I think. I watched L'Atalante, A Propos de Nice, and Zero de Conduite today and feel like a budding anarchist with romance in my soul!!! ; ) Formidable!!!

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  4. I haven't been able to visit for a few days. All your posts this week are outstanding, Eric! A new etage (sorry, missing accent) on the Eiffel Tower! The white dinner party at Place des Vosges! And now this. Oh my!

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  5. like ^^

    Take a look: http://images-n.blogspot.com

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  6. Love this in b&w—and I think it's interesting that you vote on Sunday (so do the Greeks, I guess). Guess you won't be spending the weekend at the country house if you're a good citizen.

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  7. Thank you as always Eric - but in UK English a "circonscription" is a "constituency", the area represented by a Member of Parliament.
    We also have local councils, whose elections are a great deal less exciting...

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  8. @VF. Thanks for the info, I just edited my post (it's hard enough to remember all the terms in French... LOL!)

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  9. How in the world does anything get done with 577 representatives??? We can't get anything done with 435!

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  10. @Christie "How in the world does anything get done with 577 representatives??? We can't get anything done with 435!" Well... Precisely... LOL No in fact they usually all agree with the government for, if they don't, the government has to call for new elections and they may lose their job... Theyr don't really serve democracy to be honest.

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