French colonial assemblies were stripped of any real decision-making authority

Evidence

As in the past, however, no deliberative powers were to be granted any African assembly. The right to the final say in policy making had to be reserved to the colonizer, “in order to apply it in the direction of the moral and material improvement of the African populations.” — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 1348

Categorization

• XREF: Evidences the republic’s insistence that tutelage and final authority stay with the colonizer despite native representation — core theme of the book.