National sovereignty, acquired through uni versal suffrage and political liberties, such as those of the press, of meeting and of asso ciation, and a parliamentary regime, that is to say, the supremacy of Parliament over the ministry, have become the groundwork of the constitution and of the political government of France.
Amendments to the Constitution and Mod ifications Proposed Since the German Inva sion of 1914.—(a) Government Proposal.— When M. Briand formed his sixth ministry (14 Dec. 1916), he brought in a bill authorizing the government for the duration of the war, to take all steps and emergency measures which might be necessitated for the purpose of national de fense, with under the form of law decrees, wi penalties. The committee which was appointed to make inquiries on the subject reported un favorably on 29 Dec. 1916. "As a matter of principle,* said the report, "it is obvious that sovereignty cannot be delegated; it is inalien able. Universal suffrage invests us with the legislation Power in order that we may exer cise the latter at our own risks and under our own responsibility. Our constituents have given us no right to delegate such power.* In fact, the government proposal concerned a change in the Constitution, and both Chambers of Parliament should therefore have been ap plied to by the President of the Republic. The proposal was therefore abandoned; indirectly, however, it resulted in a simplification of pro cedure concerning the discussions of bills, the passing of which was considered as extremely urgent.
(b) Proposed Amendment to the Constitution. The following proposal concerning a change in the constitutional laws, limited to the period of hostilities, were made by various members of Parliament: (1) That the two Houses of Par liament sit in one general assembly so that the bills should be discussed and passed as if Par liament consisted only of one house; (2) That the right of the President to dissolve the Cham ber of Deputies should be suspended; (3) That Parliament should sanction all treaties signed between the Entente Allies, even before the war, whilst the Constitution of 1875 limits the powers of the two Chambers to the sanction of treaties of peace and of commerce; (4) That the parliamentary supervisions of the na tional defense and military operations should be exercised through a parliamentary com mittee consisting of 80 deputies and 40 sena tors elected by each House respectively.
Bibliography.— Block, 'Dictionnaire de l'Administration Francaise> (1898) ; Boutmy, 'Etudes de droit constitutionel' (Eng. trans. 1891) ; Lanessan, 'La Republique democratique, la politique interieure; exterieure, coloniale de France> (1897) ; Monteil, 'L'Administration de la Republique' (1893) ; Saleilles, 'Develop ment of the Present Constitution of France' (1895) • Young, 'Administrative Centralization and Decentralization in France' (1898) ; Aumaitre, 'Manuel de droit Bard et Robiquet, 'Droit constitutionel com pare' ; Bigue de Villeneuve, 'Element de droit constitutioneP ; Darese, 'Les Constitutions' ; Duguit et Monier, 'Les constitutions de la Esmein, 'Elements de droit civil con stitutioneP • Hale, 'Les constitutions de la France); Lefebvre, 'Etudes des constitutions de 1875' ; Martin, 'Précis elementaire de droit constitutioneP ; Molinier, Tours Elementaire de droit constitutioneP ; Poudra et Pierre, 'Lois constitutionelles de la Republique. Fran caise Rossi, Tours de droit con stitutionel.>