by Jonas Stewart

Created on: April 03, 2009

The creation of the National Constituent Assembly, which is one of the major aspects of modern French policy as the symbol of modern French democracy, was the result of a long and difficult evolution in a country where people were fighting for their rights.

The "Ancien Rgime" (socio-political establishment from 14th-18th century) was the time where absolutist kings reigned in France, indulging in utmost luxury while the French people were often assailed by dearths and epidemics. The organization of the society of the Ancien Rgime was later described by Charles Loyseau (1566-1627) as a hierarchy of three estates:

The First Estate or Clergy
The Second Estate or Nobility
The Third Estate or Commoners

As the clergy and the nobility were considered much more important than the Third Estate, each of these two orders had, just as the commoners, one vote, even though the Third Estate represented 97% of the French people. Consequently, if both the nobility and the clergy voted against a new policy, the Third Estate was powerless, having only one vote. This injustice led to many fights throughout the history of France and ultimately culminated in the 1789 French Revolution.

From 1302 until 1614, the king regularly consulted the "Estates-General", three assemblies where one after another each of the three social orders was called by the king to discuss political issues in a crisis. Suddenly in 1789, the Estates-General reunited again since their last assembly in 1614, more than 150 years from then, and the French middle class people, largely influenced by the philosophical ideas of the "Lumires", were hoping for a change in their country and more power. Among their requests were more freedom, national sovereignty, equal access to public functions and the end of the Three-Order-Society.

While the king is occupied by his tax reforms and doesn't seem to care much about his people, the Third Estate knows that if it wants to have a say in French policy, the ancient organization of the Estates-General had to be changed. Together with a few reformists from the nobility and the clergy, the Third Estate demands the vote per person which would lead to a much more equal and fair voting process. On 6 may 1789 they refuse to assemble separately from the two privileged orders. After a whole month of discussions and negotiations, they decide to invite the privileged orders to join them in a general assessment of the powers of the elected of the three estates relative to the different bailiwicks

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