Cumul Des Mandats - Purpose and Frequency

Purpose and Frequency

The purpose of holding multiple offices are multiple. Holding a seat in the Senate, National Assembly, or European Parliament gives local mayors a valuable method of tapping funds to develop their home cities and regions. It also can give many opportunities to curry favor with other important officials, with opportunities at each level. Salaries for positions can be combined to a point as well, for greater wage compensation as an additional reward for building a political safety net. For politicians with national ambitions, retaining a position in a local town can give them a down-to-earth aura that can appeal to voters. These advantages have made politicians very wary of reducing the practice of the cumul with legislation despite other moves to end perceptions of favoritism and corruption among politicians.

It is common practice in France since the French Third Republic (1870). But there are also many cases of "cumul" before this period, for example, the writer Alexis de Tocqueville was a member from 1839 to 1851. In 1849 he was appointed Foreign Affairs minister, and at the same time he was elected President of the General Council of Manche from 1849 to 1851 (councillor from 1842 to 1852). There are several reasons for this phenomenon, and one of them is that France has a long tradition of centralization, on the contrary of countries such as Germany, Italy, and Spain. Local governments have less power and skills that the "Lander" of Germany, or "Autonomous Communities" of Spain. The local mandates in France are less important than in other countries, politicians have more time to devote to a parliamentary mandate.

The cumul is a widespread practice and has grown much more prevalent in modern France. In 1946, 36 percent of deputies in the National Assembly held an additional office. By 1956, this number had already increased to 42 percent and by 1970, 70 percent of deputies held an additional elected office; in 1988, 96 percent did.

Many of the most prominent politicians in France make use or have made use of the cumul. Jacques Chirac served as Mayor of Paris between 1977 and 1995. During this same time, Chirac also served as a deputy in the National Assembly from Corrèze, briefly as Member of the European Parliament, and even as Prime Minister between 1986 and 1988. Former Prime Minister Pierre Bérégovoy served concurrently as mayor of Nevers and deputy of Nièvre in the mid-1980s. There is widespread acceptance of this practice among French politicians and without legislation, the cumul is likely to continue.