The Twilight of France's Republican Aristocracy

Recent weeks have seen the trial of former Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin and the conviction of former Defense Minister Charles Pasqua. Now even former President Jacques Chirac has learned that he is not immune from prosecution. Is France's "Republican Monarchy," to borrow a phrase from Jean-Frances Revel, about to be overthrown?

The French Revolution never actually ended the privileges of France's ruling elites. True enough, some aristocratic heads rolled, but the nobility eventually returned to France.