CultureFrench Government Structure

The French government structure is very centralized. The government is able to set universal standards that apply throughout France. It has been my experience that the departments are not like states in the US. They have little power to change what is set by the national government. That said, the French don't sit around if the national government does something they don't like. In 1995, France was just about shutdown by strikes and protests against the policies of the newly-elected Chirac government.

Usually, the largest city in a department is the capital, and has the Préfecture, the government office, where things like passports, car registrations, drivers' licenses and resident papers are processed. Note: Some of what get processed where was changed in 2003. When you need to get any of the above done, there will likely be a lot of paperwork. "A form for everything" seems to be the motto of the French bureaucracy. Nothing came be processed unless all of the questions are answered by a form. There is a process, that I have not figured out, that must be followed in order for any government-related paperwork to get done in France.