France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with a strong central state and a strictly secular public sphere. It has an extensive welfare system, a nuclear-armed military and a leading role in the European Union.
In the 12 Axes register, France leans hardest on Federal – Unitary: Unitary 83%; the register median is Unitary 68%.
Take the test and this line shows how close your twelve scores are to France, and the axis where you differ most.
Where France sits on each of the twelve axes, in four categories. The label is our estimate; the line under it says why.
Centralized
Centralised state run from Paris
Representative Democracy
Elected president and parliament
Centrist
Rights with strong security powers
Cooperation
EU core, UN Security Council
Military-Focused
Nuclear force, overseas deployments
Assimilationist
Republican universalism, no ethnic statistics
Social Democratic
High public spending, welfare state
Regulationism
Dirigiste regulatory tradition
Moderate
EU single market, defends agriculture
Agnostic
Strict laïcité since 1905
Progressive
Abortion freedom in constitution
Neutral
No distinct state stance
Set against the median of all 195 countries in the register.
Irreligious – Religious
On Irreligious – Religious, France is at Irreligious 68%. The register median is Religious 68%.
Security – Freedom
On Security – Freedom, France is at balanced 50%, almost the register median of balanced 50%.
Closeness is 100 minus the root-mean-square distance on all twelve axes.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.britannica.com
Map: Damouns, Ssolbergj, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped and resized.
Last updated: 2026-10-15
The tiers on this page are our estimates from public positions and policies. They are not an official statement by the person or the government concerned. Two independent passes scored every axis and a third settled the differences. How the register works. Found a mistake? Write to [email protected].
