The Palais Bourbon is a prestigious historical building, but is also the pinnacle of French institutional life and the effective demonstration of democracy at work. People are familiar with the image of MPs in the Chamber, but the details of the Parliamentary activities, as defined by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, are less well known.

The history of France's Parliament over the last two centuries is closely linked with the history of democracy and the chequered path it has followed before finding its culmination in today's institutions.