The 5 themes
Institutions of the French Republic: theme 2 revision
Test yourself on theme 2 sets, then sort out who votes, who makes the law, who applies it and who represents the State.
Independent site, not linked to the French Interior Ministry, the préfectures or the exam centres.
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| Practice set of 10 questions |
Knowledge questions: French Interior Ministry, Licence Ouverte 2.0, translated by us. Options, explanations and scenarios: Radif Partners. The real exam is in French only. Not the official exam.
The institutions of the French Republic make up the second theme of the civic exam, officially called the institutional and political system. It covers democracy and voting, how the Republic is organised from the President down to the communes, and the European institutions. On the day it carries 6 of the 40 questions: 3 on democracy and voting, 2 on how the Republic is organised and 1 on the European Union. It has no scenario questions: every question is a knowledge question whose stem appears on the official lists. Vocabulary matters a great deal, because wrong options mix up similar roles such as député and sénateur, préfet and maire, or Prime Minister and President. Expats used to a parliamentary or federal system elsewhere should pay attention to the French split between President and Prime Minister. The tool above draws ten-question sets from this theme, out of the 78 in our bank, and marks each answer; the small tool shows the split by notion set by the decree of 10 October 2025.
How many questions on this theme?
Questions in the exam
6 / 40
| Democracy and voting | 3 |
| How the Republic is organised | 2 |
| European institutions | 1 |
Answers, dates and costs by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · Method
Who does what: the separation of powers
The key to this theme is a simple grid: one power votes the law, another applies it, a third judges. Every institution fits into one of these boxes.
- "The separation of powers is a fundamental principle. Which three powers does it concern?" Answer: Legislative, executive and judicial. The separation of powers distinguishes legislative power (Parliament passes laws), executive power (the Government implements them) and judicial power (judges ensure they are applied).
- "Who appoints the Prime Minister?" Answer: The President of the Republic. Under Article 8 of the Constitution, the President of the Republic appoints the Prime Minister, taking into account the majority in the National Assembly.
| Power | Who holds it | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Legislative | Parliament: National Assembly and Senate | votes laws |
| Executive | the President of the Republic and the Government | applies laws |
| Judicial | judges | oversee how laws are applied |
How the Republic is organised across the country
The 2 organisation questions usually run from the top of the State down to local level: President, Government, then préfet, region, département and commune.
- "Who is the préfet?" Answer: The State's representative in the département. The préfet is appointed by the President of the Republic in the Council of Ministers. They represent the State in the département or region and head its services, but deal with neither justice nor the army.
The trap is to give the préfet duties that are not theirs, or to confuse the préfet with the mayor. The préfet is appointed and represents the State; the mayor is elected by the municipal council and runs the commune. For a foreign resident, the préfecture is also where residence applications are handled, which helps you remember its role.
Democracy and voting
With 3 questions, this is the most heavily drawn notion in the theme. It covers elections, suffrage, voting conditions and the rule of law.
- "From what age do you have the right to vote?" Answer: 18. In France, you must be an adult, that is 18, to vote. Young people are automatically registered on the electoral rolls when they come of age, after the citizen census.
- "Which condition is necessary to vote in European elections?" Answer: Being a national of an EU country. To vote in France in European elections, you must be a citizen of an EU country, live in France, be at least 18 and be registered on the electoral roll.
Keep the elections apart: legislative elections for députés, the presidential election for the President, municipal elections for local councillors, who then elect the mayor, European elections for members of the European Parliament. The stems like to ask who is elected, by whom and how often.
The European Union in one question
Only one point is at stake on Europe, and a few landmarks win it: the single currency, the member states, the European Parliament, Europe Day.
- "When is Europe Day celebrated?" Answer: 9 May.
The most common mix-ups
- Député and sénateur: both sit in Parliament, one in the National Assembly, the other in the Senate; only députés are chosen in legislative elections.
- Prime Minister and President: the President appoints the Prime Minister, who leads the Government.
- Préfet and maire: one is appointed by the State, the other elected by the municipal council.
- Councillors and mayor: in municipal elections voters elect the councillors, who then elect the mayor.
The civic training sheets describe each institution. For naturalisation applicants this theme becomes concrete, since they will vote in these elections once French; the naturalisation civic exam page comes back to this, and the history, geography and culture theme explains where several institutions come from.