French constitution established during the Thermidorian Reaction in the French Revolution .
Known as the Constitution of Year III in the French republican calendar , it was prepared by the Thermidorian Convention. It was more conservative than the abortive democratic Constitution of 1793. The Constitution of 1795 established a liberal republic with a franchise based on the payment of taxes, similar to that of the Constitution of 1791 ; a bicameral legislature to slow down the legislative process; and a five-man Directory . The central government retained great power, including emergency powers to curb freedom of the press and freedom of association.