Decentralization of Authorities in France: Implications for Transport Sectors

Abstract

Most developed countries have adopted decentralization in political system delegating many authorities to local government. However, in France and Japan many authorities are still with central government. But France started the movement to decentralize their system from the beginning of 1980’. They enacted many laws for decentralization. And finally to legitimize decentralization fully, the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, which has been promulgated in 1956 was amended in 2003. In order to realize the spirits of this constitution, many laws have been enacted. These laws transfer many authorities on transports from central government to local governments. While promoting the decentralization of authorities in Japan, those French experiences are very much valuable. The purposes of this research are, especially focusing on transportation field, firstly to show an overview of the decentralization of political system in France, which started from the beginning of 1980’, and then to examine clearly the policy and authorities devolved after the amendment of Republic’s constitution in 2003.