Sejm gotowy i władza typu Straży (z badań nad percepcją społeczną reformy ustroju państwa w czasach Sejmu Wielkiego)
Streszczenie
By the middle of January 1789 the concept of the ready Seym (always ready
to be convened in definite circumstances and consisting of the same members
elected every two years) had been put forward by the leaders of the Puławy party
(Ignacy Potocki, Stanisław Kostka Potocki) in the Seym and presented in S. K.
Potocki' s work “The Remarks” on General “Improvement of the National Government”
(published anonymously). This idea was connected with the abolition of the Permanent
Council (a kind of government under Russia's protectorate) and thus with the
liberation from Russia's supremacy. As a result, this concept became associated
with a reform aiming at regaining independence and received wide support from
the gentry including Members of Parliament. This should be regarded as a great
political success of the Puławy party. It must also be pointed out that the idea of
the ready Seym was promoted by the Potockis at the expense of the concept of the
permanent Seym (combining legislative and executive powers and permanently in
session), a concept which was very popular with the gentry at that time. It was
a compromise: the Seym which was currently in session was to become the
permanent Seym after the abolition of the Permanent Council (which happened on
19th January 1789): however, in the future after the proposed reform it was to
become the ready Seym. Reaching this compromise should also be considered a great
achievement of the Puławy party. By promoting the idea of the ready Seym and
making it popular with the gentry the Puławy party laid a solid foundation for the
constitutional reform of the Commonwealth during the Great Seym (1788-1792).
The concept of the ready Seym was supported by the king and was first included
in “The principles concerning improvement of the form of government” (December 1789)
and next in the Third of May Constitution (1791).
By associating in the middle of January 1789 the proposal of creating the
Guardians of Law (a kind of government), as well as the ready Seym, with the
abolition of the Permanent Council and a reform aiming at regaining independence
the Puławy party considerably contributed to making the Guardians popular with
the gently and parliamentarians. According to the Puławy party the Guardians of
Law were supposed to be a supervising body, not a decision-making one; the real
executive power was to be exercised by the collegiate governing bodies in the form
of the Commissions of War, Police, Finance and Education, directly elected by the
Seym and subordinated to it. As a result the Puławy party could also count on
getting support from the wide circles of the landed gently. However, they did not
manage to include the provision concerning the supervisoly only role of the Guardians
in the final version of the constitution. Instead, the concept of the Guardians, which
was made popular with the gently by the Puławy party, was used in the king's
version of the constitution, according to which the Guardians were to be a decision-making body and such a provision was included in the Third of May Constitution.
The Guardians of Law became a supreme power for the whole administration, in
fact a kind of government, however, the sovereignty of the Seym was strongly
emphasized at the same time. It should be pointed out that the Royal party gained
the advantage at the expense of the Puławy party. The king's success and the social
approval of this provision resulted from a kind of compromise between the king
and the gently parliamentary formation, significant changes in the mentality of the
gently and general reformatory consequences connected with the functioning of the
Seym in session as the permanent Seym which combined legislative and executive
powers.
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