ABSTRACT
The National Assembly consists of 627 deputies, elected for a period of five years, by universal suffrage. Both men and women have the right to vote from the age of twenty-one. Like a constitutional monarch, he carries out ceremonial and advisory functions and his political acts require the counter-signature of the Prime Minister and of one or more responsible ministers. The constitutions of 1875 and 1946 both lay down a special procedure for constitutional revision. Under the 1875 constitution, however, it was exceedingly simple and no special machinery was needed. Formal modifications of the text of the constitution are, however, only one aspect of constitutional change. The Constitutional Committee consists of the President of the Republic and the Presidents of the two houses, together with seven nominees of the Assembly and three nominees of the Council, chosen from outside the ranks of parliament, who hold office for the duration of the session.
