Had he done so in the successful years 1855-61, possibly his dynasty might have taken root.

He deferred action, however, until the darker years that came after 1866.

In 1868 greater freedom was allowed to the Press and in the case of public meetings.

The General Election of the spring of 1869 showed large gains to the Opposition, and decided the Emperor to grant to the Corps Legislatif the right of initiating laws concurrently with himself, and he declared that Ministers should be responsible to it (September 1869).
These and a few other changes marked the transition from autocracy to the "Liberal Empire." One of the champions of constitutional principles, M.Emile Ollivier, formed a Cabinet to give effect to the new policy, and the Emperor, deeming the time ripe for consolidating his power on a democratic basis, consulted the country in a _plebiscite_, or mass vote, primarily as to their judgment on the recent changes, but implicitly as to their confidence in the imperial system as a whole.

His skill in joining together two topics that were really distinct, gained him a tactical victory.