The Problem of Elected Representation in France at the End of the Old Regime

Abstract

The article deals with the interaction between the authorities and the society in France at the end of the Old Regime guided by two principles, authoritarian and representative. For a long time, the authorities assumed that the king should be represented before his subjects, but not vice versa. In practice, contrary trends were traced in the history of the French monarchy: the reinforcement of administrative methods of government and the professionalization of the state service, on the one hand, and attempts to rely on representative bodies, on the other. French “parlements” insistently claimed the role of institutions representing the nation before the king. In the 1770s — 1780s, after the Maupeou reform, the idea of the need for elected representation, like the Estates General and the provincial estates, spread in society. At the local level, reforms in this direction have been undertaken repeatedly. The convocation of an elected representative body at the national level seemed too dangerous, and the king was forced to agree to it only in conditions of an acute crisis, not being ready for a dialogue with his subjects.