Kingdom of Poland Sejm (an ancient
Proto-Lechitic word meaning "gathering" or "meeting") traces its roots to the King's Councils –
wiece – which gained authority during the time of
Poland's fragmentation (1146-1295). The 1180 Sejm in
Łęczyca (known as the 'First Polish parliament') was the most notable, in that it established laws constraining the power of the ruler. It forbade arbitrary sequestration of supplies in the countryside and takeover of bishopric lands after the death of a bishop. These early
Sejms only convened at the King's behest. Following the 1493
Sejm in
Piotrków, it became a regularly convening body, to which indirect elections were held every two years. The
bicameral system was also established; the
Sejm then comprised two chambers: the
Senat (Senate) of 81 bishops and
other dignitaries; and the Chamber of Deputies, made up of 54 envoys elected by smaller local
sejmik (
assemblies of landed nobility) in each of the Kingdom's provinces. At the time, Poland's nobility, which accounted for around 10% of the state's population (then the highest amount in Europe), was becoming particularly influential, and with the eventual development of the
Golden Liberty, the
Sejm's powers increased dramatically.
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth " or
Four-Year Sejm of 1788–1792 and Senate adopted the
May 3rd Constitution at the
Royal Castle in Warsaw Over time, the envoys in the
lower chamber grew in number and power as they pressed the king for more privileges. The
Sejm eventually became even more active in supporting the goals of the privileged classes when the King ordered that the landed nobility and their estates (peasants) be drafted into
military service. The
Union of Lublin in 1569, united the
Kingdom of Poland and the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania as one single state, the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and thus the
Sejm was supplemented with new envoys from among the
Lithuanian nobility. The Commonwealth ensured that the state of affairs surrounding the three-estates system continued, with the
Sejm, Senate and King forming the estates and supreme deliberating body of the state. In the first few decades of the 16th century, the Senate had established its precedence over the
Sejm; however, from the mid-1500s onwards, the
Sejm became a very powerful representative body of the
szlachta ("middle nobility"). Its chambers reserved the final decisions in legislation, taxation,
budget, and
treasury matters (including military funding),
foreign policy, and the
confirment of nobility. The 1573
Warsaw Confederation saw the nobles of the
Sejm officially sanction and guarantee
religious tolerance in Commonwealth territory, ensuring a refuge for those fleeing the ongoing
Reformation and
Counter-Reformation wars in Europe. Until the end of the 16th century,
unanimity was not required, and the
majority-voting process was the most commonly used system for voting. Later, with the rise of the
Polish magnates and their increasing power, the unanimity principle was re-introduced with the institution of the nobility's right of
liberum veto (
Latin: "free
veto"). Additionally, if the envoys were unable to reach a unanimous decision within six weeks (the time limit of a single session), deliberations were declared void and all previous acts passed by that
Sejm were annulled. From the mid-17th century onward, any objection to a
Sejm resolution, by either an envoy or a senator, automatically caused the rejection of other, previously approved resolutions. This was because all resolutions passed by a given session of the
Sejm formed a whole resolution, and, as such, was published as the annual "constituent act" of the
Sejm, e.g. the "
Anno Domini 1667" act. In the 16th century, no single person or small group dared to hold up proceedings, but, from the second half of the 17th century, the
liberum veto was used to virtually paralyze the
Sejm, and brought the Commonwealth to the brink of collapse. The
liberum veto was abolished with the adoption of the
Constitution of 3 May 1791, a piece of legislation which was passed as the "Government Act", and for which the
Sejm required
four years to propagate and adopt. The constitution's acceptance, and the possible long-term consequences it may have had, is arguably the reason that the powers of
Habsburg Austria,
Russia and
Prussia then decided to
partition the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, thus putting an end to over 300 years of Polish parliamentary continuity. It is estimated that between 1493 and 1793, a
Sejm was held 240 times, the total debate-time sum of which was 44 years. The legal content of the March Constitution allowed for
Sejm supremacy in the system of state institutions at the expense of the executive powers, thus creating a parliamentary republic out of the Polish state. An attempt to strengthen executive powers in 1926 (through the August Amendment) proved too limited and largely failed in helping avoid legislative grid-lock which had ensued as a result of too-great parliamentary power in a state which had numerous diametrically-opposed political parties sitting in its legislature. In 1935, the parliamentary republic was weakened further when, by way of,
Józef Piłsudski's
May Coup, the president was forced to sign the
April Constitution of 1935, an act through which the head of state assumed the dominant position in legislating for the state and the Senate increased its power at the expense of the
Sejm. On 2 September 1939, the
Sejm held its final pre-war session, during which it declared Poland's readiness to defend itself against invading German forces. On 2 November 1939, the President dissolved the
Sejm and the Senate, which were then, according to plan, to resume their activity within two months after the end of the Second World War; this, however, never happened. During wartime, the National Council (1939–1945) was established to represent the legislature as part of the
Polish Government in Exile. Meanwhile, in
Nazi-occupied Poland, the Council of National Unity was set up; this body functioned from 1944 to 1945 as the parliament of the
Polish Underground State. With the cessation of hostilities in 1945, and subsequent rise to power of the Communist-backed
Provisional Government of National Unity, the
Second Polish Republic legally ceased to exist. In practice, it did little more than rubber-stamp decisions already made by the Communist
Polish United Workers' Party and its executive bodies. This was standard practice in nearly all Communist regimes due to the principle of
democratic centralism. The
Sejm voted on the budget and on the periodic
national plans that were a fixture of communist economies. The
Sejm deliberated in sessions that were ordered to convene by the
State Council. The
Sejm also chose a
Prezydium ("presiding body") from among its members. The
Prezydium was headed by the speaker, or
Marshal, who was always a member of the
United People's Party. In its preliminary session, the
Sejm also nominated the
Prime Minister, the
Council of Ministers of Poland, and members of the State Council. It also chose many other government officials, including the head of the
Supreme Chamber of Control and members of the
State Tribunal and the
Constitutional Tribunal, as well as the
Ombudsman (the last three bodies of which were created in the 1980s). When the Sejm was not in session, the State Council had the power to issue decrees that had the force of law. However, those decrees had to be approved by the Sejm at its next session.
Third Polish Republic After the
end of communism in 1989, the Senate was reinstated as the second house of a bicameral
national assembly, while the
Sejm remained the first house. The
Sejm is now composed of 460 deputies elected by
proportional representation every four years. Between 7 and 20 deputies are elected from each constituency using the
d'Hondt method (with one exception, in 2001, when the
Sainte-Laguë method was used), their number being proportional to their constituency's population. Additionally, a threshold is used, so that candidates are chosen only from parties that gained at least 5% of the nationwide vote (candidates from ethnic-minority parties are exempt from this threshold). Image:Sejm RP.jpg|The
Sejm building in
Warsaw File:PolskiSejm007.jpg|The
Sejm's main hall File:PolskiSejm101.jpg|Sessions chamber in the
Sejm File:Sejm Plenary Hall viewed from the rostrum.JPG|Sessions chamber viewed from the rostrum Marshal's chair Sejm Plenary Hall.JPG|Marshal's chair in the sessions chamber File:Sejm cross.JPG|
Sejm cross File:PolskiSejm010.jpg|Column hall in the
Sejm == Historical composition of the Sejm ==