Elections are organized on March 26 to designate the 92 members of the Council of the Commune. Given the departures of Parisians before and after the German siege of Paris, and of those who followed Thiers to Versailles (100,000 according to Thiers) abstentions were around 25 percent, a normal number for the time. . The election of about twenty "moderate" candidates, representing the wealthy classes, shows that the elections were relatively free. The eastern and northern arrondissements (18th, 19th, 20th, 10th, 11th), the 12th and 13th in the south voted overwhelmingly for the communard candidates. The 1st, 2nd, 8th, 9th and 16th centuries voted overwhelmingly for the candidates presented by the mayors of the Party of Order (about 40,000 votes) and the abstentions were very high. In fact 70 will sit, due to the rapid resignation of moderate elected officials and the impossibility for some of them to be present in Paris (for example Blanqui) and the double elections. The Council is representative of the popular classes and the Parisian petty bourgeoisie. There are 25 workers, 12 artisans, 4 employees, 6 traders, 3 lawyers, 3 doctors, 1 pharmacist, 1 veterinarian, 1 engineer, 1 architect, 2 painters, 12 journalists.
All republican and socialist political tendencies are represented. Among the twenty "Jacobins", admirers of the Revolution of 1789 and rather centralizers, we find Charles Delescluze, Félix Pyat, Charles Ferdinand Gambon, Paschal Grousset... Barely more numerous are the "radicals", supporters of municipal autonomy and a democratic and social republic, such as Arthur Arnould, Charles Amouroux, Victor Clément, Jules Bergeret... There are about ten "Blanquists", followers of the avant-garde insurrection, such as Jean-Baptiste Chardon, Émile Eudes , Théophile Ferré, Raoul Rigault, Gabriel Ranvier... A few "Proudhonians", supporters of social reforms sit:Léo Fränkel, Benoît Malon, Eugène Varlin... Finally some "independents" were elected, such as Jules Vallès and Gustave Courbet. ..
Quickly the Council of the Commune is divided into “majority” and “minority”. The majority are the “Jacobins”, the “Blanquists” and the “independents”. For them, the political prevails over the social. Wanting to be the continuations of the action of the Montagnards of 1793, they were not hostile to centralizing or even authoritarian measures; however they will vote all the social measures of the Commune. They are the ones who will impose the creation of the Committee of Public Safety on May 1 by 45 votes against 23. The minorities are the "radicals" and the "internationalists" Proudhonians, they endeavor to promote social and anti-authoritarian measures, they are the supporters of the social republic. These tendencies will crystallize on April 28, when the majority impose the creation of a Committee of Public Safety, an organization that the minorities refuse because it seems to them contrary to the democratic and autonomist aspiration of the Commune. If these struggles for influence are misunderstood by a large part of the Parisians, the two tendencies will fight together as soon as the Versailles troops enter Paris.
Alongside these personalities, we must not forget the extraordinary political effervescence manifested by the working classes of Paris. The political tension is maintained by the repeated elections, on March 26 for the Council of the Commune and on April 16 for complementary elections. The official ceremonies also allow gatherings:the installation of the Council of the Commune at the town hall on March 28, the funeral of the socialist Pierre Leroux in mid-April, the destruction of the private mansion of Thiers, the demolition of the Vendôme Column on May 16. But above all, the population can meet in many clubs to discuss the situation, propose solutions or even put pressure on elected officials or help the municipal administration. Gathered in the most diverse places, they allow regular or occasional speakers to make the aspirations of the population heard, in particular the establishment of a new social order favorable to the working classes. If these clubs are numerous in the central districts (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th arrondissements), the chic districts of western Paris have none (7th, 8th and 16th). The clubs federated on May 7 in order to have more effective contacts with the Council of the Commune. In addition to the already existing titles, more than 70 newspapers were created during the 70 days of the Commune. But freedom of the press was restricted from April 18 and on May 18 the Committee of Public Safety banned newspapers favorable to the Thiers government. The most influential newspapers are Le Cri du Peuple by Jules Vallès, Mot d'ordre by Henri Rochefort, L'Affranchi by Paschal Grousset, Le Père Duchesne by Versmersch, La Sociale with Madame André Léo, Le vengeur by Félix Pyat, The Commune.