During the French Revolution, did the Estates-General represent a step toward democracy?

Answer 1

Somewhat. The call for the Estates-General was a return to powers previously enjoyed by the French people, but which had lain dormant since 1614 (the last time it was dismissed).

However, the original formulation of the Estates General is that 1/3rd of the seats with to the First Estate (clergy), 1/3rd to the Second Estate (nobilty), and 1/3rd to the Third Estate (commoners). Additionally, the representatives of the Third Estate were only elected from a few privleged towns/cities, and franchise was limited. Thus, the "step towards democracy" was not nearly as large as it would appear at first.

During the French Revolution, the makeup of the Estates-General changed somewhat: the Third Estate demanded and received double representation - the other two estates then turned around and demanded that the Estates vote by order - effectively ensuring that the double representation was pointless because the Third Estate would still be outvoted by the other two estates (since the Estates as a whole had equal voting power).

Since it became clear that the King only wanted to discuss taxes, and the other two estates were largely unwilling to work with them, the Third Estate formed the National Assembly and the revolution was on.