May 1815 French Legislative Election
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Legislative elections were held in France from 8 May to 22 May 1815 for the period of the
Hundred Days The Hundred Days (french: les Cent-Jours ), also known as the War of the Seventh Coalition, marked the period between Napoleon's return from eleven months of exile on the island of Elba to Paris on20 March 1815 and the second restoration ...
. The election was held to appoint deputies to the Chamber of Representatives established by the Additional Charter of 22 April 1815. The May 1815 election marked the first French legislative election since April 1799, and last of the 'republican system' till the
Charter of 1830 The Charter of 1830 (french: Charte de 1830) instigated the July Monarchy in France. It was considered a compromise between constitutional monarchists and republicans. History After three days of protests in July 1830 – the July ...
.


Context

After his return from the Isle of Elba and his entry into
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
on March 20, 1815,
Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
returned to the throne. Aware that most of the French no longer want the authoritarian regime established in Year VIII and desirous of making the
Bourbons The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spanish ...
completely forgotten, the Emperor resolves to
liberalise Liberalization or liberalisation (British English) is a broad term that refers to the practice of making laws, systems, or opinions less severe, usually in the sense of eliminating certain government regulations or restrictions. The term is used m ...
the regime. For this, he had a new constitution drafted by
Benjamin Constant Henri-Benjamin Constant de Rebecque (; 25 October 1767 – 8 December 1830), or simply Benjamin Constant, was a French people, Franco-Switzerland, Swiss political thinker, activist and writer on political theory and religion. A committed repub ...
, the Act additional to the constitutions of the Empire , which took up a good part of the liberal elements of the
Charter of 1814 The French Charter of 1814 was a constitutional text granted by King Louis XVIII of France shortly after the Bourbon Restoration, in form of royal charter. The Congress of Vienna demanded that Louis bring in a constitution of some form before h ...
. This act overhauls the Parliament which is divided into two chambers: the Chamber of Peers , made up of hereditary peers appointed by the Emperor, and the Chamber of Representatives which is elected by
census suffrage Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
. In the system established by the Charter of 1815, each district or department formed an ' electoral college'. The college would provide the framework of the elections in France for the next 100 years and continues in a similar fashion today. Each college would table the votes achieves by those who voted (any man of 25 years or older who paid taxes could vote). There were 13 further 'special districts' established also known as
arrondissements An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements'', ...
, between which the votes are equally divided according to a second table. These special districts represented certain areas of high concentrations of essential workers, like merchants, shipowners, bankers, etc. The electoral system therefore left 629 representatives from the departments, and 23 of which were from these special districts.


Elections

The Additional Act was ratified by
plebiscite A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...
on June 1, 1815, but with a very large abstention. Indeed this new constitution does not satisfy many people. If the royalists are obviously hostile to it, the Liberals and republicans find it too conservative. The liberal
bourgeoisie The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
criticizes the text in particular for not leaving enough initiative to the representatives in legislative matters. In order to elect the Chamber of Representatives, the electoral colleges were convened for May 8, 1815 , when Napoleon could very well have postponed the election in view of the international situation. Thus the constitution comes into force even before the people have spoken about it. Under these conditions, abstention is very high: in 67 departments out of 87, the colleges cannot bring together half of the voters plus one as the law provides. Only 7,600 of the 19,900 voters called up attend. In
Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
, a city where the bourgeoisie is royalist, thirteen electors choose four deputies.


Results


References

{{French elections
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
Legislative A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial powers of government. Laws enacted by legislatures are usually known as p ...
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