The Constitution of Year III and the Directory

In August 1795 the Convention adopted a new constitution designed to prevent both dictatorship and popular insurrection. Legislative power was split between two chambers, the Council of Five Hundred, which proposed laws, and the Council of Ancients, which approved or rejected them. Executive power went to five Directors, one of whom was replaced each year. Voting rights were tied to paying taxes, and electors who chose deputies had to meet a higher property threshold.

A declaration of duties was added to the declaration of rights. To prevent a royalist majority, the Convention also decreed that two-thirds of the new deputies must come from its own members. The Directory governed from 1795 to 1799. It achieved some financial and administrative stability, but its narrow base, frequent elections and repeated coups against unwelcome results made it unstable, and its reliance on the army proved fatal.