The constitutionalist movement in Egypt revived during the reign of Ismail and produced a new consultative institution in 1866. Two texts, a fundamental statute and a law defining the powers of the assembly of delegates, were promulgated on 22 October. Together they established the Madjlis Shura al-Nuwwab, also described as the consultative council or assembly of deputies.

The assembly was assigned responsibility for deliberating on the higher interests of the country. It could also give opinions on projects that the government considered within its scope, although those opinions were submitted to the viceroy for approval. The arrangement therefore created a representative forum without granting the assembly full legislative sovereignty.

Village leaders predominated in the assembly, while intellectuals trained abroad were less strongly represented. Many members increasingly entered administrative posts, including the office of mudir. Their support for Ismail in the final years of his reign and later for the army-led revolution made them, in the passage's interpretation, the most representative political group of the period.