Editing Culture of France (section)

==Role of the State==
The French state has traditionally played an important role in promoting and supporting culture through the educational, linguistic, cultural and economic policies of the government and through its promotion of national identity. Because of the closeness of this relationship, cultural changes in France are often linked to, or produce, political crisis.<ref>Kelley, 246-7.</ref>

The relationship between the French state and culture is an old one. Under [[Louis XIII of France|Louis XIII]]'s minister [[Cardinal Richelieu|Richelieu]], the independent [[Académie française]] came under state supervision and became an official organ of control over the French language and seventeenth-century literature. During [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]]'s reign, his minister [[Jean-Baptiste Colbert]] brought French luxury industries, like textile and porcelain, under royal control and the architecture, furniture, fashion and etiquette of the royal court (particularly at the [[Château de Versailles]]) became the preeminent model of noble culture in France (and, to a great degree, throughout Europe) during the latter half of the seventeenth century.

At times, French state policies have sought to unify the country around certain cultural norms, while at other times they have promoted regional differences within a heterogeneous French identity. The unifying effect was particularly true of the "radical period" of the [[French Third Republic]] which fought regionalisms (including regional languages), supported anti-clericalism and a strict separation of church from state (including education) and actively promoted national identity, thus converting (as the historian [[Eugen Weber]] has put it) a "country of peasants into a nation of Frenchmen". The [[Vichy Regime]], on the other hand, promoted regional "folk" traditions.

The cultural policies of the (current) [[French Fifth Republic]] have been varied, but a consensus seems to exist around the need for preservation of French regionalisms (such as food and language) as long as these don't undermine national identity. Meanwhile, the French state remains ambivalent over the integration into "French" culture of cultural traditions from recent immigrant groups and from foreign cultures, particularly American culture (movies, music, fashion, fast food, language, etc.). There also exists a certain fear over the perceived loss of French identity and culture in the European system and under American "cultural hegemony".

===Education===
{{Main|Education in France}}
[[File:Absolute BNUS 01.JPG|thumb|alt=Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire at Strasbourg, stone building with portico by a park|The [[Bibliothèque nationale et universitaire|National and University Library]] on the campus of the [[University of Strasbourg]]]]
The French educational system is highly centralized.<ref name="auto11">Ben-David, Joseph and Philip G. Altbach. eds. ''Centers of Learning: Britain, France, Germany, United States'' (2nd ed. 2017).</ref> It is divided into three different stages: primary education, or ''enseignement primaire, ''corresponding to grade school in the United States; secondary education, or ''[[collège]]'' and ''[[lycée]], ''corresponding to middle and high school in the United States; and higher education ([[List of colleges and universities in France|l'université]] or ''les [[Grandes écoles]]'').

Primary and secondary education is predominantly public (private schools also exist, in particular a strong nationwide network of primary and secondary [[Catholic school|Catholic education]]), while higher education has both public and private elements. At the end of secondary education, students take the [[baccalauréat]] exam, which allows them to pursue higher education. The baccalauréat pass rate in 2012 was 84.5%.

In 1999–2000, educational spending amounted to 7% of the French GDP and 37% of the national budget.

France's performance in math and science at the middle school level was ranked 23 in the 1995 [[TIMSS|Trends in International Math and Science Study]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://timss.bc.edu/timss1995i/HiLightB.html|title=TIMSS 1995 Highlights of Results for the Middle School Years|website=timss.bc.edu|access-date=21 August 2017}}</ref> France was ranked 22 in 2019.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nces.ed.gov/timss/countries.asp|title=Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) – TIMSS Participating Countries|website=nces.ed.gov|access-date=21 August 2017|archive-date=27 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151127181747/http://nces.ed.gov/timss/countries.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Since the [[Jules Ferry laws]] of 1881–2, named after the then Minister of Public Instruction, all state-funded schools, including universities, are independent from the (Roman Catholic) Church. Education in these institutions is free. Non-secular institutions are allowed to organize education as well. The French educational system differs strongly from Northern-European and American systems in that it stresses the importance of partaking in a society as opposed to being responsibly independent.

Secular educational policy has become critical in recent issues of French multiculturalism, as in the "[[French law on secularity and conspicuous religious symbols in schools|affair of the Islamic headscarf]]".

===Minister of Culture===
{{Main|Minister of Culture (France)}}
The Minister of Culture is in the [[Cabinet of France|Government of France]], the [[French government ministers|cabinet member]] in charge of national museums and monuments; promoting and protecting the arts (visual, plastic, theatrical, musical, dance, architectural, literary, televisual and cinematographic) in France and abroad; and managing the national archives and regional "maisons de culture" (culture centres). The Ministry of Culture is located on the [[Palais Royal]] in Paris.

The modern post of Minister of Culture was created by [[Charles de Gaulle]] in 1959 and the first Minister was the writer [[André Malraux]]. Malraux was responsible for realizing the goals of the "droit à la culture" ("the right to culture") – an idea which had been incorporated in the [[French constitution]] and the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]] (1948) – by democratizing access to culture, while also achieving the [[Gaullism|Gaullist]] aim of elevating the "grandeur" ("greatness") of post-war France. To this end, he created numerous regional cultural centres throughout France and actively sponsored the arts. Malraux's artistic tastes included the modern arts and the avant-garde, but on the whole he remained conservative.

The Ministry of [[Jacques Toubon]] was notable for a number of laws (the "[[Toubon Law]]s") enacted for the preservation of the French language, both in advertisements (all ads must include a French translation of foreign words) and on the radio (40% of songs on French radio stations must be in French), ostensibly in reaction to the presence of English.

===Académie Française===
{{Main|Académie Française}}
[[File:French Institute, Paris 2014 002.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Institut de France]] building, home to the [[Académie Française]]]]

The Académie Française (English: French Academy) is the pre-eminent French learned body on matters pertaining to the French language. The Académie was officially established in 1635 by [[Cardinal Richelieu]], the chief minister to [[Louis XIII of France|King Louis XIII]]. Suppressed in 1793 during the [[French Revolution]], it was restored in 1803 by [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon Bonaparte]] (the Académie considers itself having been suspended, not suppressed, during the revolution). It is the oldest of the five ''académies'' of the [[Institut de France]].

The Académie consists of forty members, known as ''immortels'' (immortals). New members are elected by the members of the Académie itself. Académicians hold office for life, but they may be removed for misconduct. The body has the task of acting as an official authority on the language; it is charged with publishing an official dictionary of the language. Its rulings, however, are only advisory; not binding on either the public or the government.

===Military service===
Until 1996, France had compulsory [[military service]] of young men. This has been credited by historians for further promoting a unified national identity and by breaking down regional isolationism.<ref>Weber, Eugen. Peasants into Frenchmen: the modernization of rural France, 1870–1914. Stanford University Press, 1976.</ref>

===Labour and employment policy===
In France, the first labour laws were [[Waldeck Rousseau's laws passed in 1884]]. Between 1936 and 1938 the [[Popular Front (France)|Popular Front]] enacted a law mandating 12 days (2 weeks) each year of paid [[Annual leave|vacation]] for workers, and a [[Matignon Accords (1936)|law]] limiting the work week to 40 hours, excluding overtime. The [[:fr:Accords de Grenelle|Grenelle accords]] negotiated on 25 and 26 May in the middle of the May 1968 crisis, reduced the working week to 44 hours and created trade union sections in each enterprise.<ref>''[[:fr:section syndicale d'entreprise|fr:section syndicale d'entreprise]]'' 27 December 1968 law</ref> The minimum wage was also increased by 25%.<ref>[[:fr:Salaire minimum interprofessionnel garanti|fr:SMIG]]</ref> In 2000 [[Lionel Jospin]]'s government then enacted the [[35-hour workweek]], down from 39 hours. Five years later, conservative prime minister [[Dominique de Villepin]] enacted the [[New Employment Contract]] (CNE). Addressing the demands of employers asking for more flexibility in French labour laws, the CNE sparked criticism from trade unions and opponents claiming it was lending favour to [[contingent work]]. In 2006 he then attempted to pass the [[First Employment Contract]] (CPE) through a vote by emergency procedure, but that it was met by [[2006 labor protests in France|students and unions' protests]]. President [[Jacques Chirac]] finally had no choice but to repeal it.

===Healthcare and social welfare===
The French are profoundly committed to the public healthcare system (called "sécurité sociale") and to their "pay-as-you-go" social welfare system.

In 1998, 75% of health payments in France were paid through the public healthcare system. Since 27 July 1999, France has a universal medical coverage for permanent residents in France (stable residence for more than three months). Using five performance indicators to measure health systems in 191 member states, it finds that France provides the best overall health care followed among major countries by Italy, Spain, Oman, Austria and Japan (The World Health Report).