The Constitution of 1791 vested the power to make laws in the National Assembly, which was indirectly elected. That is, citizens voted for a group of electors, who in turn chose the Assembly. Not all citizens, however, had the right to vote. Only men above 25 years of age who paid taxes equal to at least 3 days of the labourer’s wage were given the status of active citizens, and they were entitled to vote. The remaining men and all women were classed as passive citizens. To qualify as an elector and then as a member of the Assembly, a man had to belong to the highest bracket of taxpayers.
The revolutionaries issued a Declaration of Human Rights to make people conscious of their rights and duties. The Declaration had 17 sections. It said that all men are free and equal. The people are sovereign and law is the expression of theft will. Administrators can use only the authority legally invested in them. The Declaration granted personal freedom as well as freedom of expression and speech. In the later years, this Declaration became a charter of liberalism. Whenever people talk about human rights, they are reminded of this Declaration.
But this Declaration does not guarantee universal adult franchise. Women too did not have voting rights and they were considered inferior in every aspect. The classification between active and passive citizens was also against the spirit of humanity. The fate of the common people did not change much; they remained at the subsistence level of existence.
