The French government can be classified into executive, legislative and judicial branches. The French government is headed by a Prime Minister who is appointed by and shares the responsibility of power with The President. The President and Prime Minister are the executives of the French government.

The President is elected by the citizens of France and enjoys a term of five years. The President can have any number of such terms without a restriction on how long he or she can serve. The President is the chief commander of the defense forces, leads the French government and is the final authority to sign international agreements. The President also has the authority to dissolve the Lower House of the Parliament. The President may suggest approving any specific legislation to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers if he has a political support. The President is the one who appoints the Prime Minister and the Cabinet of Ministers, who are generally from the same political party, but the President does not have the authority to dismiss the Prime Minister. In situations of emergency, the President has been allotted special powers so as to have a better control over the state.

The legislative part consists of the Parliament, which itself consists of the National Assembly and the Senate. The National Assembly is also called as the Lower House of the Parliament and has power to challenge the Prime Minister along with his Cabinet of Ministers, and can ask them to resign by an act which is termed as “censure motion.” Both the houses of the Parliament that is the National Assembly and the Senate control the actions of the President and Prime Minister. The Cabinet of Ministers has to answer questions raised by the Members of the Parliament that is they are answerable to the French Government. The Prime Minister has powers to pass self-directed regulations that are not in contravention to the constitution. The other ministers need approval of the Parliament to pass any resolution.

The next integral part of the French government is the judicial system of France. The judicial system of France is independent to the President, Prime Minister or the Parliament. Its functioning is autonomous and practices civil law. The judicial system is composed of the judicial courts and administrative courts. The judicial courts decide civil and criminal (penal) disputes while the administrative courts hear matters related to disputes with the public administration organizations. The judicial courts are basically of three levels: first instance courts, courts of appeal and courts of cassation. Similarly administrative courts have levels like: tribunals, appellate courts and court of cassation.