A series of French parliamentary acts establishes the constitutional laws of the new republic in February 1875.

At its head is a President of the Republic.

A two-chamber parliament consisting of a directly-elected Chamber of Deputies and an indirectly-elected Senate is created, along with a ministry under the President of the Council (prime minister), who is nominally answerable to both the President of the Republic and the legislature.

Throughout the 1870s, the issue of whether a monarchy should replace or oversee the republic will dominate public debate.