France (The Boulanger Era)

History
The current state of affairs in France came about following a coup d'état by General Boulanger in 1889 who declared himself chancelor with full power. The Chancelor has publicly stated his will to fix the "Alsacian problem" (annexed by Germany during the Franco-Prussian war) and most observer assume a new war will soon engulf Europe.

Organisation of the French State
At the head of the state was the General who surrounded himself with a group of advisors. Boulanger derived his legitimacy from referendums taken once in while on national policies. The first such referendum was to get approval on his coup and to disolve the Chamber of Deputies to replace it with a Constituant Assembly.

Below the General is the Constituant Assembly who member are chosen by the chancelor from List of candidate voted by the french citizenry.

Attempted Restoration of the Monarchy
While not overtly monarchist himself, the General saw the restoration of a monarch as a mean to legitimise further his own regime and to create a relying point. With the last widely recognised bonapartist claimant death's in 1879, it was felt that a king would be easier for citizens' to accept. As per the 1871 compromise between Legitimists and Orleanists, the crown was offered to the Comte of Paris. While he was willing to accept a role as a constitutional monarch, he quickly realise he would have no real power whatsoever and so declined.

Even without the imprimatur of a king, Boulanger nevertheless managed to appropriate some of the monarchist legacy through the creation of a Civic Order, composed of those who had served the nation, complete with titles, symbols and perks that imitated Napoleonic and Bourbon's nobility. He also has himself being refered to officialy as "Chancellor" after the ancient regime title for a king apointed prime minister.

Social Organisation
The new regime rejected equalitarian principles in favour of a politic of "class cooperation" whereby the various social classes are given rights and responsabilities for which the government act as guarantor.

To do so, the government created "corporations" in effect cartels which grouped together all members of a given profession. These corporations, which in the case of the working class served as a sort of unlected trade union, were meant as intermediaries between their members and the government. On one hand they brought up grievances to the attention of the Constituant Assembly and on the other, ensured that that the later's decrees would be enforced within its ranks.

Religion and the State
In term of religion, Boulanger adopted many of the Gallicanism theory:

  The popes authority extend only over spiritual matters.  The head of state is entitled to call council of clerics and regulate matters pertaining to ecclesiastical matters.  The pope cannot send priest, bishop or legate to france without the consent of the head of state. Similarly, once in place, a member of the catholic church cannot be recalled without the same consent.  No french catholic may be excomunicated if the reason for doing so what due to said person performing an act in the service of France.  The catholic church could not own land but only occupy it at the discretion of the Government. 

That being said, Boulanger did bring back a veneer of religion into the government by, among other things, inviting the french primarch to bless the Constituant Assembly on its inauguration day.