The changes between the Fourth and the Fifth Republic are very important in the way the power is distributed.

To understand what was done, we have to look into why this constitutionnal change happened. The IIIrd and IVth Republics were plagued with governmental instability caused by the fragmentation of the political spectrum with a lot of political parties that rended governing the country difficult. During the twelve years it lasted, 24 governments succeeded.

So the goal of the Vth republic was to enable the government to govern, even without a strong majority, because it was assumed that no strong majority would be able to be found. For that, they wanted to prevent the Parliament to interfere in the Government's activities.

Among other things, the Constitution of 1958 brought to the table differents points to fulfill that Parliament's rationalisation ("rationalisation du Parlement" in French):

• The Constitution tells where the Parliament can interveen (art 34), and other matters belong to the government (art 37).
• The Parliament can delegate to the Government some of its competences to make the law using regulations, they become laws when the Parliament approve them but are in effect before that approbation (art 38).
• The Constitutionnal Council (art 61) is tasked to verify that the law is conform to the Constitution. Especially when it's about the Parliament taking over powers that belong to the Government. It could be seized by the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the President of the National Assembly or the President of the Senate (now 60 deputies or 60 senators can also seize it). Some laws are mandated by the Constitution to be reviewed by the Council. He can block a text if declared unconstitutionnal.
• In that light, one of the main text the Council has to revew are Parliamentary Assemblies' Reglements ("Réglement des Assemblées Parlementaires). They are the internal rules of procedures on how those assemblies fonction, how they accomplish what the Constitution enable them to do. In previous Republics, they have used those reglements to go around the Constitution and extend their power.
• Finally, members of Parliaments can't fully decide of the agenda (art 34-1), and they can't propose a law or an amendment that will introduce something that will cost money to the budget (art 40).

All that was furthermore changed when in 1962, the General de Gaulle, who was the President at the time, decided to use art 11 to revise the constitution and get the President elected directly by the People, and not indirectly through great electors. It is still a contested move because to revise the Constitution you should use art 89, but that procedure necessitate the accord of the Parliament. The Consitutionnal Council chose to decline his competence to review this unusual (and for some unconstitutionnal) procedure.

Since then, we have what we call the majority fact ("fait majoritaire") which means that every president, once elected, had a majority in the National Assembly. This majority gets it's legitimity through the new President, and therefore, the President become really important because the Government rely on him for the majority. But in the text, the President doesn't have much power, nearly all executive power are held by the Prime Minister.

France is still a Parliamentary Republic, the form of government wasn't change. What changed was the organisation of that form of government, to make it stable and rulable.