Legislative elections were held in France on 2 June 1946 to elect the second post-war

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

designated to prepare a new

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

. The ballot system used was

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

. After the

liberation of France The liberation of France in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance. Nazi Germany inv ...

in the Second World War, three parties dominated the political scene due to their participation in the Resistance to the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

: the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Un ...

(PCF), the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO, socialist party) and the

Popular Republican Movement The Popular Republican Movement (french: Mouvement Républicain Populaire, MRP) was a Christian-democratic political party in France during the Fourth Republic. Its base was the Catholic vote and its leaders included Georges Bidault, Robert Sc ...

(MRP) Christian democratic party. They formed a

provisional government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or ...

led by

General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

Charles de Gaulle. General de Gaulle advocated a strong

presidential government A presidential system, or single executive system, is a form of government in which a head of government, typically with the title of president, leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch in systems that use separation ...

. He felt that the "regime of the parties" under the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (french: Troisième République, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 19 ...

's system of

parliamentary government A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of t ...

(characterised by its political instability and ever-changing coalitions) was a cause of the 1940 collapse. However, the three main parties considered parliamentary democracy to be inseparable from the ideology of French

republicanism Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular sovereignty. It ...

. To them, de Gaulle's project appeared to be a rebirth of Bonapartism. In January 1946, de Gaulle resigned from the Cabinet. The

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

Félix Gouin Félix Gouin (; 4 October 1884 – 25 October 1977) was a French Socialist politician who was a member of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO). Personal life Félix Gouin was born in Peypin, Bouches-du-Rhône, the son of ...

succeeded him. A first constitutional draft was approved by the National Assembly. It was supported by the Communists and the Socialists. It concentrated power in a

unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...

Assembly and abolished the

Senate of France The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' a ...

. The Christian-Democrats campaigned for the "No" with de Gaulle and the opponents to a constitutional change (the classical Right and the

Rally of the Republican Lefts The Rally of Republican Lefts (french: Rassemblement des gauches républicaines, RGR) was an electoral alliance during the French Fourth Republic composed of the Radical Party, the Independent Radicals, the Democratic and Socialist Union of the ...

dominated by the Radical Party). The "No" coalition warned the voters against the danger of a "dictatorship" of an Assembly dominated by the Marxists, which could question the existence of private property. In the "Yes" coalition, the SFIO refused the Communist proposition of a common campaign. Finally, the "No"s won by 53% of the votes (

May 1946 French constitutional referendum A constitutional referendum was held in France on 5 May 1946. Dieter Nohlen & Philip Stöver (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p674 Voters were asked whether they approved of a new draft Constitution proposed by the Constituent As ...

). Consequently, a new National Assembly was elected in order to elaborate a new constitutional draft. The MRP, which led the "No" coalition, became the largest party with more votes and seats than the PCF. The Communists and the Socialists no longer formed a majority, so the MRP was a necessary partner for the writing of a constitutional text. Its leader Georges Bidault took the lead role in the provisional government.

Results

, - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" colspan=2 , Parties and coalitions ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Abbr. ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Votes ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , % ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Seats , - , style="background-color:#00CCCC", , style="text-align:left;" ,

(''Mouvement républicain populaire'') , style="text-align:right;" , MRP , style="text-align:right;" , 5,589,213 , style="text-align:right;" , 28.22 , style="text-align:right;" , 166 , - , style="background-color:#FF0000", , style="text-align:left;" ,

(''Parti communiste français'') , style="text-align:right;" , PCF , style="text-align:right;" , 5,145,325 , style="text-align:right;" , 25.98 , style="text-align:right;" , 153 , - , style="background-color:#E75480", , style="text-align:left;" ,

French Section of the Workers International The French Section of the Workers' International (french: Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, SFIO) was a political party in France that was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the modern-day Socialist Party. The SFIO was foun ...

(''Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière'') , style="text-align:right;" , SFIO , style="text-align:right;" , 4,187,747 , style="text-align:right;" , 21.14 , style="text-align:right;" , 128 , - , , style="text-align:left;" , Total "Three-parties alliance" , , style="text-align:right;" , 14,922,285 , style="text-align:right;" , 75.34 , style="text-align:right;" , 447 , - , style="background-color:#1E90FF", , style="text-align:left;" , Moderates (Right-wing and

UDMA Udma is a census town in Kasaragod district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Kerala. Demographics As of 2011 India census, Udma census town had population of 8,115 which constitutes 3,593 males and 4,522 females. Udma c ...

) (''Modérés'') , style="text-align:right;" , PRL/CNI , style="text-align:right;" , 2,538,167 , style="text-align:right;" , 12.82 , style="text-align:right;" , 78 , - , style="background-color:#FFBF00", , style="text-align:left;" ,

(''Rassemblement des gauches républicaines'') , style="text-align:right;" , RGR , style="text-align:right;" , 2,299,963 , style="text-align:right;" , 11.61 , style="text-align:right;" , 52 , - , , style="text-align:left;" , Miscellaneous , , style="text-align:right;" , 44,915 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.23 , style="text-align:right;" , 9 , - , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Total , , style="text-align:right;" , 20,215,200 , style="text-align:right;" , 100 , style="text-align:right;" , 586 , - , colspan=6 style="text-align:left;" , Abstention: 18.15%

Parliamentary Groups

{{DEFAULTSORT:1946 06 French legislative election 1946-06 1946 elections in France