Golden Liberty - Development

Development

This political system, unique within Europe, stemmed from the consolidation of power by the szlachta (noble class) over other social classes and over the political system of monarchy. In time, the szlachta accumulated enough privileges (such as those established by the Nihil novi Act of 1505, King Henry's Articles of 1573 and later through various Pacta conventa) that no monarch could hope to break the szlachta's grip on power.

The political doctrine of the Commonwealth of Both Nations was: our state is a republic under the presidency of the King. Chancellor Jan Zamoyski summed up this doctrine when he said that "Rex regnat et non gubernat" ("The King reigns but does not govern"). The Commonwealth had a parliament, the Sejm, as well as a Senat and an elected king. The king was obliged to respect citizens' rights specified in King Henry's Articles as well as in pacta conventa negotiated at the time of his election.

The monarch's power was limited, in favor of the sizable noble class. Each new king had to subscribe to King Henry's Articles, which were the basis of Poland's political system (and included almost unprecedented guarantees of religious tolerance). Over time, King Henry's Articles were merged with the pacta conventa, specific pledges agreed to by the king-elect. From that point, the king was effectively a partner with the noble class and was constantly supervised by a group of senators.

The foundation of the Commonwealth's political system, the "Golden Liberty" (Polish: Złota Wolność, a term used from 1573), included:

• the election of the king by all nobles wishing to participate, known as wolna elekcja (free election);
• Sejm, the Commonwealth parliament which the king was required to hold every two years;
• pacta conventa (Latin), "agreed-to agreements" negotiated with the king-elect, including a bill of rights, binding on the king, derived from the earlier King Henry's Articles;
• rokosz (insurrection), the right of szlachta to form a legal rebellion against a king who violated their guaranteed freedoms;
• religious freedom guaranted by Warsaw Confederation Act 1573,
• liberum veto (Latin), the right of an individual land envoy to oppose a decision by the majority in a Sejm session; the voicing of such a "free veto" nullified all the legislation that had been passed at that session; during the crisis of the second half of the 17th century, Polish nobles could also use the liberum veto in provincial sejmiks;
• konfederacja (from the Latin confederatio), the right to form an organization to force through a common political aim.

The Commonwealth's political system is difficult to fit into a simple category, but it can be tentatively described as a mixture of:

• confederation and federation, with regard to the broad autonomy of its regions. It is however difficult to decisively call the Commonwealth either confederation or federation, as it had some qualities of both of them;
• oligarchy, as only the szlachta—around 10% of the population—had political rights;
• democracy, since all the szlachta were equal in rights and privileges, and the Sejm could veto the king on important matters, including legislation (the adoption of new laws), foreign affairs, declaration of war, and taxation (changes of existing taxes or the levying of new ones). Also, the 10% of Commonwealth population who enjoyed those political rights (the szlachta) was a substantially larger percentage than in any other European country, and the nobles extended from powerful princes to poor knights poorer than many peasants; note that in 1831 in France only about 1% of the population had the right to vote, and in 1832 in the United Kingdom, only about 14% of Male adults;
• elective monarchy, since the monarch, elected by the szlachta, was Head of State;
• constitutional monarchy, since the monarch was bound by pacta conventa and other laws, and the szlachta could disobey any king's decrees they deemed illegal.