NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

n.

French Assemblée Nationale

French parliamentary body.

The name was used first during the French Revolution to designate the revolutionary assembly formed by representatives of the Third Estate (1789) and then as a short form for the National Constituent Assembly (1789–91). It was used again when the National Assembly of 1871–75 drafted a new constitution. In the Third Republic (1875–1940), the name designated the two houses of parliament, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. In the Fourth Republic (1946–58) and Fifth Republic (from 1958), the name was applied only to the lower house (the former Chamber of Deputies). The National Assembly consists of 577 deputies, elected in single-seat constituencies for five-year terms.