Presidents of French departments current

The departmental councils (

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

: ''conseils départementaux''; singular, ''conseil départemental'') of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

are representative assemblies elected by

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stanc ...

in 98 of the country's 101 departments. Prior to the

2015 French departmental elections Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak album ...

they were known as general councils (''conseils généraux''; singular, ''conseil général'').

History

The Law of 22 December 1789 required the establishment of an assembly in each department, known as the council of the department. This law was repealed on 4 December 1793; it was restored as the "law on the division of the territory of the Republic and its administration" on 17 February 1800, in which, "General Council of the departments" were formed. At this time, the name "General Council" was also used by town and district councils. The members of the general council were not elected until 1833; they were first elected by

universal manhood suffrage Universal manhood suffrage is a form of voting rights in which all adult male citizens within a political system are allowed to vote, regardless of income, property, religion, race, or any other qualification. It is sometimes summarized by the slog ...

on 3 July 1848. The first female president of a department council was

Évelyne Baylet Évelyne Baylet (born Évelyne Isaac: 14 June 1913 - 6 November 2014) was a French company director. She served between 1959 and 1995 as president of the ''La Dépêche du Midi'' newspaper group, while pursuing a parallel career as a regional p ...

Tarn-et-Garonne Tarn-et-Garonne (; oc, Tarn e Garona ) is a department in the Occitania region in Southern France. It is traversed by the rivers Tarn and Garonne, from which it takes its name. The area was originally part of the former provinces of Quercy and ...

in 1970. Until the passing of the Law of 2 March 1982 on the rights and freedoms of

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...

, departments, and

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

, the

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect's ...

in each department was not only the state's representative in that department but also embodied in his or her person the department's executive; since 1982, the latter function has been transferred to the president of the departmental council. Law 175 of 26 February 2008 states that there must be at least one candidate of each gender in all departmental council elections.Law No. 175 of 26 February 2008 to facilitate equal access of women and men to the mandate of General Councils.

References

External links

Présidents elected on 20 March 2008
{{Departmental Councils of France

History

See also

References

External links