74

It is necessary to question a certain dogma regarding the alleged "illiberalism" of republican thought during the revolutionary decade. For that purpose, a good test consists in observing the electoral phenomena at several levels, i.e., legislation, practices, and debates. Some legal developments, whose failures have been amply emphasized, must be reconsidered. Some practices such as splits within the assemblies absolutely do not characterize a pluralist culture. On the other hand, debates regarding validations of the results of the election that took place between 1797 and 1799 are of great interest and bring to light the fact that political pluralism was a major issue. This pluralism may take the form of implementation of the majority principle, or competition between organized minorities. Political pluralism was explicitly asserted when Brumaire’s coup d’Etat interrupted the reflection process which was characterized by experimentation and dominated by pragmatism.