So, I was listening to the Revolutions podcast while doing my lifting today, and in this particular episode they were discussing the Trial of Louis XVI by the National Convention of France. While there are alot of interesting factors around that affair, what I found most curious was the reason the author gave for why the Girondans wanted to delay any execution and submit the verdict of the trail to the provincial assemblies in an "Appeal to the People". As later events would prove correct, the Girondans were worried about the legitimacy (perceived and practical) of any bussiness conducted under the eyes and within a brick's throw of the radical and easily agitated Paris Commune: a group hardly representative of the political beliefs as France as a whole. So, what if the Convention, taking this concern to it's logical conclusion, stumbled on the idea of writing their Constiution and holding the required debates in the relative safety of the "People's Palace" of Versailles and guarded by a mix of troops from the outer garrisons? Bonus points: much more comfortable luxary accommodations!
How might this security and isolation from the passions of the streets affect the government being established. Might we see a more decenteralized model emerge? Something modestly more conservative? What about the later violence of the mobs? If they had to have time for passions to cool between hearing and acting on news, and having it spread less by rumor and more by semiorganized press, would that calm things down? Could we have seen the system stabilize, rather than turn into the later 90's revolving door?