The French imaginary is a Republican imaginary that is premised on political liberty. The red thread across the political thought and the various constitutions of France has been the pursuit of the ideal political regime that would best realise political liberty and the general interest. That approach stands in stark contrast with the civil-liberty-focused Anglo-Saxon liberal tradition according to which state power ought to be curtailed in order to maximise individual rights. Those two essentially different traditions could rather peacefully coexist at the Westphalian time of the nation-states. The clash has however become inevitable in a time where globalisation and the latter’s regional avatars, such as the European Union, act as vehicles of Anglo-Saxon liberalism. This paper introduces to the French constitutional imaginary relying on the tools provided by intellectual history and constitutional law. It contrasts it with the Anglo-Saxon political thought and shows how the former remains strong despite the erosion caused by the pervasiveness of the latter.

Keywords: Republicanism; Liberalism; Concept of liberty; French political tradition; Constitutionalism

You can download the working paper at Zenodo.