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Democratic channels flouted: how we got here

A referendum bypassed, a citizens' convention emptied of its substance, laws passed without a vote, the coalition that came first set aside, a great debate with no follow-up, grievance books never published, a pensions conclave that led nowhere, a record petition debated without a vote, governments replaced within months. This timeline gathers the moments when citizens' votes or voices were not acted upon. They go a long way to explain distrust of institutions. If so many people take to the streets, it is not out of a taste for insurrection: it is often because the other channels led nowhere.

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Each entry links to its sources: official results, rulings, media. A mistake, something missing? Report it.

  1. 2000-2016

  2. Vote or voice ignored

    The 'no' in the European referendum bypassed #

    54.67% of voters reject the European constitutional treaty (turnout: 69.36%). On 4 February 2008, Parliament meeting in Congress paves the way for the Lisbon Treaty without a new referendum; according to Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, author of the first text, 'the tools are exactly the same, only the order in the toolbox has changed'.

    See also: ADP referendum: a million signatures for nothing (2020)

    Sources: Wikipedia (FR) — French referendum on the European Constitution treaty

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  3. Since 2017

  4. Vote or voice ignored

    The RIC rejected by the National Assembly #

    A flagship yellow vests demand, the citizens' initiative referendum (proposing or repealing a law, recalling an official, amending the Constitution from 2% of voters) is rejected by 91 votes to 50.

    See also: Great national debate: the RIC ruled out, the referendum promise forgotten (2019)
    Guides: The right to protest

    Sources: Public Sénat — LFI's citizens' referendum bill rejected by the National Assembly

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  5. Vote or voice ignored

    Great national debate: the RIC ruled out, the referendum promise forgotten #

    The government's answer to the yellow vests crisis, the great national debate draws more than 1.5 million participants over two months: online platform, public meetings, grievance books and letters. On 25 April 2019, Emmanuel Macron rules out the RIC, which he says 'seems to call representative democracy into question', and does not restore the wealth tax (an evaluation is promised for 2020). He promises to lower the threshold of the shared-initiative referendum to one million signatures. Promise not kept: in 2020, the ADP referendum gathers 1,093,030 supporters, but more than 4.7 million are still required; in 2023, he again promises to simplify this referendum.

    See also: Yellow vests (2018) · The RIC rejected by the National Assembly (2019) · ADP referendum: a million signatures for nothing (2020) · Grievance books: six years unpublished (2025)

    Sources: Public Sénat — Great debate: "no unanimity" on the wealth tax or the RIC · Public Sénat — Macron wants to ease the popular-initiative referendum but rules out the RIC · Tendance Ouest — Macron proposes working more to pay less tax · Constitutional Council — Decision no. 2019-1-8 RIP of 26 March 2020 (Paris Airports) · Public Sénat — Deemed unworkable, can the shared-initiative referendum be reformed?

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  6. Vote or voice ignored

    Citizens' Climate Convention: 'unfiltered' promise broken #

    150 citizens drawn by lot write 149 proposals. Emmanuel Macron promises to pass them on 'unfiltered', except three 'jokers' he discards on 29 June 2020: rewriting the Constitution's preamble, a 110 km/h motorway limit and a 4% tax on dividends. According to Reporterre's count (March 2021), only 15 proposals are taken up unchanged and 54% are dropped or deeply altered: no crime of ecocide, no advertising ban on polluting products, no mandatory whole-house renovation, no nitrogen fertiliser tax; the domestic flight ban covers only 8 routes (under 10% of traffic); the car weight penalty only applies above 1,800 kg (2% of vehicles). In February 2021, the Convention's members grade the government's response 3.3 out of 10. The promised referendum to write the climate into Article 1 of the Constitution is dropped on 6 July 2021.

    Sources: Wikipedia (FR) — Citizens' Convention for Climate · Maire-info — Climate convention: Emmanuel Macron takes up 146 proposals · Reporterre — Climate convention: only 10% of the proposals were taken up · Reporterre — Macron and the climate: 3.3 out of 10 according to the Citizens' Convention · Reporterre — Constitution: the government drops its environment referendum

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  7. Vote or voice ignored

    ADP referendum: a million signatures for nothing #

    The first shared-initiative referendum in history, against the privatisation of Paris Airports. From 13 June 2019 to 12 March 2020, 1,093,030 voters back it, but 4,717,396 were needed (a tenth of the electorate): no referendum. The tool meant to give citizens a say turns out to be almost impossible to use.

    See also: Great national debate: the RIC ruled out, the referendum promise forgotten (2019) · The 'no' in the European referendum bypassed (2005)

    Sources: Constitutional Council — Decision no. 2019-1-8 RIP of 26 March 2020 (Paris Airports) · Public Sénat — Paris Airports referendum: the count of supporters

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  8. Vote or voice ignored

    Pensions: fourteen days of protest, 49.3 and referendum refused #

    From 19 January 2023, fourteen national days of strikes and marches. Despite this massive mobilisation, the pension reform is passed without a vote in the Assembly using Article 49.3; the no-confidence motion fails by 9 votes on 20 March. The Constitutional Council then rejects two shared-initiative referendum requests (14 April and 3 May 2023). Élisabeth Borne's government uses 49.3 23 times.

    See also: Pensions conclave: 'no taboos', but 64 kept (2025)
    Guides: Strikes, protests and work

    Sources: Wikipedia — 2023 French pension reform strikes (in French) · Wikipedia (FR) — 2023 French pension reform · Wikipedia (FR) — Article 49 of the French Constitution

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  9. Vote or voice ignored

    2024 legislative elections: the coalition that came first set aside #

    After the 9 June dissolution, the Nouveau Front populaire comes first with 193 seats, ahead of Ensemble (168) and the RN (143). Emmanuel Macron refuses to appoint its candidate Lucie Castets and on 5 September appoints Michel Barnier, from Les Républicains.

    See also: Three Prime Ministers in one year (2025)

    Sources: Wikipedia (FR) — 2024 French legislative election

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  10. Vote or voice ignored

    Grievance books: six years unpublished #

    During the 2018-2019 great debate, citizens fill in 19,247 grievance books in 16,337 municipalities. Promised as a 'national treasure' to be returned to the French, they are never published. On 11 March 2025, the National Assembly unanimously adopts a resolution to make them accessible; the government commits to opening access to the digitised books.

    See also: Great national debate: the RIC ruled out, the referendum promise forgotten (2019) · Agora: the participation platform running out of steam (2026)

    Sources: LCP — Yellow vests: the government commits to resume work on the grievance books

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  11. Vote or voice ignored

    Pensions conclave: 'no taboos', but 64 kept #

    Promised 'without totems or taboos', the conclave meant to reopen the 2023 pension reform with unions and employers collapses on 23 June 2025 after four months: FO and the CGT had walked out, and François Bayrou refuses to return to 62. For the Socialist group, it was 'just a smokescreen'. The 2026 social security financing law then only suspends the rise in the retirement age until January 2028, for those born in 1964.

    See also: Pensions: fourteen days of protest, 49.3 and referendum refused (2023)

    Sources: Public Sénat — PS no-confidence motion: "the pensions conclave was just a smokescreen" · Le Monde du droit — 2026 social security financing law published in the Official Journal

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  12. Vote or voice ignored

    Three Prime Ministers in one year #

    Barnier's government is brought down by a no-confidence motion on 4 December 2024, a first since 1962. François Bayrou loses a confidence vote on 8 September 2025 (364 against, 194 for). Sébastien Lecornu, appointed on 9 September, resigns on 6 October a few hours after forming his government, then is reappointed on 10 October.

    See also: 2024 legislative elections: the coalition that came first set aside (2024)

    Sources: Wikipedia (FR) — 2024 French legislative election · Wikipedia (FR) — François Bayrou government · Club des juristes — Sébastien Lecornu resigned and Emmanuel Macron accepted · Paris Match Belgium — Emmanuel Macron reappoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister

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  13. Vote or voice ignored

    Petition against the Duplomb law: 2.1 million signatures, a debate without a vote #

    Adopted in July 2025, the Duplomb law notably reintroduces acetamiprid, a neonicotinoid pesticide banned in France. A petition filed on the Assembly's website by a student passes 2.1 million signatures. On 7 August 2025, the Constitutional Council strikes down the neonicotinoid exemption. On 11 February 2026, the petition is debated in the chamber, a first, but without a vote; in the meantime, Senator Laurent Duplomb has filed a new bill to reintroduce acetamiprid.

    Sources: L'info durable — Petition against the Duplomb law: an unprecedented debate but no vote in the Assembly · Constitutional Council — Decision no. 2025-891 DC of 7 August 2025 (Duplomb law)

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  14. Vote or voice ignored

    Agora: the participation platform running out of steam #

    Launched in September 2023 to let citizens have their say, the Agora app quickly loses momentum: only one consultation published in 2024. Relaunched in June 2026, it hosts the high-school students' consultation after the blockades from 6 to 23 October, with about 100,000 contributions. Researcher Magali Della Sudda calls it 'authoritarian participation', where the format constrains what can be said; as with the great debate and the Climate Convention, participants fear yet another promise without follow-up.

    See also: Grievance books: six years unpublished (2025)

    Sources: Maire-info — To boost citizen participation, the government bets on its Agora digital platform · France 3 Nouvelle-Aquitaine — Agora, the new grievance books? The State and the participatory illusion · Reporterre — "Each time people believe in it, then the promise is broken": Macron's citizen consultations no longer work

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