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 sta ...

in 98 of the country's 101

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

. Prior to the 2015 French departmental elections 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 This law was repealed on 4 December 1793; it was restored as the "law on the division of the territory of the Republic and its administration" on 17 February 1800, in which,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 slo ...

on 3 July 1848. The first female president of a department council was Évelyne Baylet in Tarn-et-Garonne in 1970. Until the passing of the Law of 2 March 1982 on the rights and freedoms of communes, departments, and regions, 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