Sejmik - Assessment and Historiography

Assessment and Historiography

Kriegseisen notes that the institution of the sejmik gained a negative reputation following the partitions of Poland, and it has been described as one of the dysfunctional elements of the Polish political system that contributed to the fall of the Commonwealth. He cautions against such simplistic assessments, and traces them to 18th century publications whose negative views of the sejmiks have been rarely challenged since. A stereotype of a group of drunken, fighting nobility, found in some literature, should not be seen as representative, particularly outside the period of sejmik's decline in the 18th century. He argues that while many sensationalistic descriptions of disruption at sejmiks have survived, they did so because they were just that—sensationalistic—and should be seen as exceptions to the long, boring, but usually constructive proceedings that were much more common.

Kriegseisen also notes that there is a myth about the uniqueness of sejmiks to Poland, and notes that similar institutions of self-governance and regional parliamentary participation by nobility can be found in other places, such as in Hungary and various German provinces (Silesia, Prussia, Brandenburg).