Monteskiusz i Rousseau a polska myśl polityczna w przededniu Konstytucji 3 maja. Zarys problematyki

This article examines the influence of Montesquieu and Rousseau upon Polish political thought on the eve of the Constitution of 3 may 1791, that had to make a considerable impact on the Constitution itself. As far the last is interpreted as entailing two principles of Western constitutionalism, that of separation of powers and that of popular sovereignty, often associated with two political thinkers of the eighteenth -century, one should not be astonished to find the expressions of both inspirations or proveniences in the very political debate of the Four Year Seym. However, the author of the article undertakes an attempt to differentiate strictly both intellectual tendencies not only in the works of Montesquieu and Rousseau, but also – and especially – in the Polish writings of that time. In fact, the last shows the opposition between the meanings or objectives of those tendencies, coming down to the difference in the concepts of government and citizenship as both inspirations were used with completely opposed constitutional purposes, strengthening on the one hand the old style republicanism (represented by Adam Rzewuski) and the Anglophobe, moderate and enlightened monarchism (represented by Ignacy Łobarzewski) on the other. But to some extent the last perspective can be seen in a wider scope of so called the Reform campaign, what should – consequently – determinate the ways in which the very Constitution might be analyzed.