Voting in the Estates General was conducted on the principle of ?a)eac...
Voting in the Estates General in the past had been conducted
1. According to the principle that each estate had one vote.
2. Members of the Third Estate demanded that voting must now be conducted by the assembly as a whole, where each member would have one vote.
3. This was according to the democratic principles put forward by philosophers like Rousseau in his book, The Social Contract.
Voting in the Estates General was conducted on the principle of ?a)eac...
The Estates General was a legislative assembly in France that was convened in 1789. This assembly was made up of representatives from three different groups or estates: the nobility, the clergy, and the common people. Each estate was supposed to have an equal say in the proceedings of the assembly, and thus, the voting system was based on the principle of each Estate one vote.
Explanation:
- The Estates General was convened in 1789 as a response to the financial crisis that France was facing at the time. King Louis XVI hoped that the assembly would help him find a solution to the crisis.
- The assembly was made up of representatives from three different groups, or estates: the nobility, the clergy, and the common people. Each estate was supposed to have an equal say in the proceedings of the assembly.
- The voting system in the Estates General was based on the principle of each Estate one vote. This meant that each estate would cast its vote as a unit, and the outcome of the vote would be decided by a simple majority.
- This system was problematic because the nobility and the clergy, who made up the first two estates, were vastly outnumbered by the common people who made up the third estate. This meant that the common people had a disproportionate amount of power in the assembly.
- The third estate, unhappy with this system, demanded that the voting be conducted on the principle of each member one vote. This would have given them a greater say in the proceedings of the assembly.
- However, the first two estates refused to accept this proposal, and the assembly remained deadlocked for several weeks.
- Eventually, the third estate declared itself the National Assembly, and with the support of some members of the clergy and the nobility, began to draft a new constitution for France.
- This led to the French Revolution, which was a period of radical social and political upheaval that lasted from 1789 to 1799.