Chamber of Deputies (France)

For other uses, see Chamber of Deputies.

The Chamber of Deputies of France at the Palais Bourbon in 1841.

Floor plan of the conference hall of the Chamber of Deputies

The Chamber of Deputies (French: Chambre des députés, [ʃɑ̃bʁ de depyte]) was the lower house of Parliament in France at various times in the 19th and 20th centuries:^[1]

• 1814–1848 during the Bourbon Restoration and the July Monarchy, the Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament, elected by census suffrage.^[1]
• 1875–1940 during the French Third Republic, the Chamber of Deputies was the legislative assembly of the French Parliament, elected by two-round system with universal male suffrage. When reunited with the Senate in Versailles, the French Parliament was called the National Assembly (Assemblée nationale) and carried out the election of the president of the French Republic.^[2]

During the Bourbon Restoration

Created by the Charter of 1814 and replacing the Corps législatif, which existed under the First French Empire, the Chamber of Deputies was composed of individuals elected by census suffrage. Its role was to discuss laws and, most importantly, to vote taxes. According to the Charter, deputies were elected for five years, with one-fifth renewed each year. Deputies needed to be 40 years old and to pay 1,000 francs in direct contributions.

Government ministers could be chosen from among the deputies, and this resulted in giving the Restoration government a slight, albeit minor, parliamentary and liberal character.

During the Hundred Days (les cent jours) return of Napoleon I in 1815, under the terms of the Additional Act to the Constitutions of the Empire, the Chamber of Deputies was briefly replaced by a Chamber of Representatives (Chambre des représentants). This body was dissolved upon the entry of Coalition troops into Paris on 7 July.

For the period 1815–1816, the (then) Ultra-royalist chamber was referred to as the Chambre introuvable.

During the July Monarchy

Conference hall of the Chamber of Deputies 1843

The Chamber of Deputies was elected by census suffrage according to the Charter of 1830. The political life of the July Monarchy was defined by the split within the Chamber of Deputies between the progressive movement (considered the Charter as a starting point) and the conservative wing (who refused any further modifications). Although both parties traded power in the initial stages, by 1840 the conservative members around François Guizot had seized control.

From 1830, deputies were elected for five years. They needed to be 30 years old and to pay 500 francs in direct contributions.^[1]

The king convoked the chamber every year, and he had the power to extend the parliamentary session or to dissolve the chamber, although in the latter case he was required to convoke a new chamber in three months time.

In 1852, the Chamber of Deputies retook the name Corps législatif.

Historical composition

Kingdom of France (1815–1848)

Further information: Bourbon Restoration in France and Kingdom of France

Jacobin Republicans   Miscellaneous left   Republicans   Liberals   Movement Party   Third Party [fr]   Doctrinaires   Resistance Party   Orléanist   Bonapartists   Ultra Royalists / Legitimists
May 1815	40 510 80
August 1815	50 350
1816	20 10 136 92
1820	80 194 160
1824	17 413
1827	170 260
1830	274 282
1831	73 282 104
1834	75 50 320 15
1837	19 142 56 64 168 15
1839	240 199 20
1842	193 266
1846	168 290

French Third Republic (1870–1940)

Further information: French Third Republic

PUP   PCF   SFIO   Far-Left / Radicals and Socialists / Radical Socialists   Republican Union   SI / PRS   Radical Left / Independent Radicals    Radical-Socialists   Centre-Left   Republican Left / Democratic Union / ARD   Miscellaneous   SE   PDP   Progressive Republicans   Constitutional monarchists / Centre-Right   Bonapartists   Orléanist   FR   Clericals   Legitimists / Monarchists / Right   Nationalists / Far-Right
1871	38 112 72 20 214 182
1876	27 98 193 48 15 22 76 40 15 24
1877	27 73 147 66 3 111 38 56
1881	48 1 47 170 157 44 8 44 38
1885	60 40 200 83 65 63 73
1889	57 13 69 214 14 3 169 37
1893	67 41 99 242 30 27 61 14
1898	97 55 86 232 5 53 39 14
1902	43 104 129 62 127 89 35
1906	54 20 132 115 90 66 78 30
1910	75 24 261 1 66 30 131 7
1914	5 102 22 192 66 77 50 88
1919	68 26 86 107 21 29 183
1924	26 104 44 139 123 29 116
1928	11 102 60 125 180 24 100
1932	9 10 132 43 160 121 49 83
1936	6 72 149 44 115 82 42 100

See also

• Cabinet of France
• Constitution of France
• French Parliament
• History of France
• National Assembly (French Fourth Republic)
• National Assembly (France) (Fifth Republic)
• Politics of France

References

1. "Encyclopedia Britannica". Britannica.com. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
2. "National Assembly". www2.assemblee-nationale.fr. Retrieved September 24, 2023.