Portelli, Hugues <br/><br/>
The Fifth Republic and Political Parties 

 -  2008.<br/>							 
<br/><br/> 91 
<br/><br/> From the beginning, the relationships between the Fifth Republic and political parties have been characterized by a deep ambivalence: the new regime was built by General de Gaulle to get rid of the parties and reduce them to a secondary role. However, the adaptation of the parties to the presidential system — and the choice of this system in periods of cohabitation — has led to a consolidation of the regime and of its Gaullist understanding at the expense of a close interweaving between parties and the higher reaches of government.