French President Emmanuel Macron came to power in 2017 under the slogans of modernizing the country. Political opponents often accuse him of lacking a core and often changing his position depending on the internal or external situation. However, as shown in the article, he demonstrates enviable persistence in promoting liberal economic reforms and the associated restructuring of the social protection system, despite growing social tensions. At the same time, Emmanuel Macron is afraid to affect the regime of the Fifth Republic, established in 1958, although it is increasingly being criticized for the excessive rigidity of the structure, which does not correspond to the current socio-political realities of French society. Although the «yellow vest» movement that began in 2018 appears to have fizzled out, powerful protests against pension reform and youth unrest in immigrant neighborhoods of French cities in 2023 indicate that the country remains at risk of a deep social crisis. The loss of the president’s majority in the National Assembly as a result of the 2023 parliamentary elections and the strengthening of the so-called «populist» parties’ positions reduce the authorities’ ability to continue reforms. More broadly, they are weakened by a decline in citizens' interest in elections, which risks delegitimizing representative institutions. The growth of hostility in society towards the «establishment», regularly recorded by public opinion polls, does not strengthen power either. Emmanuel Macron is trying to mitigate discontent, on the one hand, by increasing state assistance to vulnerable segments of the population, and on the other hand, offering, for example. To expand the field of application of referenda.
economic modernization; social protection; reforms; socio-political contradictions; Fifth Republic.