The shared-initiative referendum was introduced into the French constitution in 2008. Since then, it has resulted in only five unsuccessful attempts. While parliamentary democracy seems to be running out of steam, this path of popular expression seems largely obstructed. On the one hand because of the formal conditions set by the constitutional text and in particular the gathering of more than 4 million signatures, but also because the Constitutional Council ensures a necessary control but whose decisions are still not free of criticism. Indeed, the assessment of the limits that the constitutional judge enforces is subject to discussion as well as the reasoning he follows. This analysis naturally leads us to question the legal but also political role of the Constitutional Council.