ABSTRACT
The Third Republic had a hard time establishing its legitimacy. In the nineteenth century, France was deeply divided between monarchists and republicans, who in turn were divided among themselves. Moderate republicans opposed radical republicans, and the moderates and radicals opposed the socialists. The defeat of the empire and the upheaval of the commune—a brief, terrible tragedy—resulted in a republic whose constitutional laws were drafted without republican zeal or democratic fervor. The aim of the new constitution was to build a legitimate republic by creating a state that was effective with regard to national exigencies while remaining faithful to the principles of democracy. One major innovation in the 1958 constitution was defining legislative limits so that the administration can keep the Assembly from infringing on the administration's action, something as harmful as ministerial instability. The administration may be run less effectively by ministers who feel no personal responsibility to the Assembly.
