The Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania at the time of the Noble Democracy – a Polish Anomaly?
The Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania at the time of the Noble Democracy – a Polish Anomaly?

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with the specifi city of the noble democracy in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Contrary to the absolutism dominant in Western Europe, where the fullness of power was concentrated in the hands of the monarch, in Poland, starting from the 16th century, power passed into the hands of the noble state, and republican forms were mixed with monarchist ones (the so-called republica mixta).The Sejm becomes the highest organ of power, bringing together the full legislative power, the power of the elected monarch gets limited, the administrative structure – based on lifetime offices – is anachronistic (until the middle of the 18th century), the judiciary retains its state character and from the 16th century becomes independent of the king, which is unique compared to most of the then existing countries. The system of democracy of the nobility created at that time clearly distinguishes the Polish political system from the solutions that were dominating during the modern era. In the first half of the 18th century, this form of government becomes deformed. During the magnate oligarchy, real power passes into the hands of a small group of the richest. Poland is in the state of decline. To counteract this, reforms are being gradually introduced during the reign of Stanisław August Poniatowski, the last Polish king. However, they prove to be long overdue. The constitution passed on May 3, 1791 – the second in the world – did not last long, and the third partition of Poland meant the loss of independence for 123 years. The reasons for the fall of the Republic of Poland can be found in the external factors, in the disintegration of state institutions and the growing anarchy, but also in a specific Polish systemic anomaly, which did not withstand the confrontation with the centralized absolute monarchy of the neighbouring countries.The attempt to build in Poland a democratic state based on law turned out to be premature.

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