Reviewers' comments on 1st edition '...informative, relatively jargon-free, and well structured...(and) laced with tables, figures, exhibits and maps which serve to complement the text in the most helpful ways...Stevens captures the new themes of French Politics without losing sight of the old...The most up to date...(and) should certainly be considered as the foremost textbook in English on French Poltics.' - Robert Elgie, Journal of Common Market Studies '...(A)n excellent introduction to the French Political system. It is well written, illustrated and structured...(T)he approach is distinctive and refreshingly clear...students of French politics will find (it) extremely useful and above all very readable.' - F. Carr, Modern and Contemporary France The Government and Politics of France provides a clear and concise introduction to the working of the major political institutions in France, including the presidency, parliament, the government and administrative machinery, local government, political parties and pressure groups. The emphasis is on a lively sense of how political action happens, where power is located and how, and within what constraints, it is used. The new second edition provides a critical review of the Mitterand presidency and an assessment of continuities and change under Chirac.