Od prezydencjalizmu do demokracji wodzowskiej. Ewolucja ustroju i wzorców przywództwa politycznego w II Rzeczypospolitej
From Presidentialism to Command Democracy: The Evolution of Political System and Leadership Models in The Second Polish Republic

Summary/Abstract: The text presents the main directions of the evolution of political leadership patterns in Poland in the interwar period. The point of departure for discussion is the model of exercising power introduced by Józef Piłsudski when he was exercising his duties as the Head of State and Commander-in-Chief. After the May coup, the marshal’s political leadership was based on his personal authority, giving a specific form to the state system, which Joseph Barthélemy called “Pilsudskism”. The next part of the text is devoted to the shaping of the political system after 1935 towards a command democracy, i.e. a system in which the most important functions are performed by the military, who control the institutions of state administration both at the central and local level. In this model, the dominant role was to be played by ‘the Chief of Nation.’ This title, according to the unwritten testament of Józef Piłsudski, was given to Edward Śmigły-Rydz. The analysis indicates that the system formed after the death of Józef Piłsudski was in conflict with the political principles on which the April Constitution adopted in 1935 was based, creating de facto duumvirate between the President and the Commander-in-Chief.

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