General Sejm - Composition and Electoral Ordinance

Composition and Electoral Ordinance

Until 1468, sejms gathered only the high ranking nobility and officials, but the sejm of 1468 saw deputies elected from various local territories. Although all nobles were allowed to participate in the general sejm, with the growing importance of local sejmiks in the 15th century, it became more common for the sejmiks to elect deputies for the general sejm. In time, this shifted importance, particularly legislative competence, from local sejmiks to the general sejm.

The sejm comprised two chambers, with varying numbers of deputies. After the 1569 Union of Lublin, the Kingdom of Poland was transformed into the federation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the numbers of sejm participants were significantly increased with the inclusion of the deputies from Lithuanian sejmiks. The deputies had no set term of office, although in practice it was about four month long, from their election at a regional sejmik, to their report on the next sejmik dedicated to hearing and discussing the previous sejm's proceedings (those sejmiks were known as relational or debriefing). Deputies had parliamentary immunity and any crimes against them were classified as lese-majesty.

The two chambers were:

• A senat of high ecclesiastical and secular officials, forming the royal council. In the mid 15th century they numbered 73. That number grew with time, with 81 senators around 1493-1504, and 95 around 1553-1565. In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth the senate numbered over 140 bishops and other dignitaries; it grew from 149 around 1598-1633 to 153 around 1764-1768, and 157 during the era of the Great Sejm (1788-1792). The Constitution of May 3 set their number at 132.
• A lower house, the sejm proper, of lower ranking officials and general nobility. That number also grew with time, at first below that of the senators, with 53 deputies around 1493-1504, and 92 around 1553-1565. In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the sejm chamber's number of deputies exceeded that of the senators. After the Union of Lublin in 1569 it was composed of 170 deputies (Polish, singular: poseł, representing and elected by a local sejmik). The 170 included 48 from Lithuania. Deputies from several cities and towns were allowed a status of observers. The number of deputies grew to around 236 in the 1764-1768 period, dropping to 181 during the time of the Great Sejm (1788-1792). The Constitution of May 3 set their number at 204, including 24 representatives from cities and towns.

The Constitution of May 3 specified that the deputies were elected for two years, and did not require reelection in that period if any extraordinary sejms were to be called. Senators for the most part were selected by the king from a number of candidates presented by the sejmiks.

Usually larger voivodeships could send 6 deputies, smaller 2; ziemias, depending on their sizes, would sent 2 or 1. Numbers of deputies elected to the sejm by sejmiks from particular localities, in the order of precedence, based on a 1569 decree, were as follows: