Kultura polityczna szlachty województwa połockiego na przełomie XVI–XVII wieku w świetle instrukcji sejmikowych

The article is devoted to the analysis of the special character of the political culture in Polotsk Voivodship at the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century. The research of these phenomena is based on the instructions for local parliaments (sejmiks) as a source base and provides for a distinction between three aspects: the attitude of the gentry towards the existing political system and its institutions; social and political values and norms of the gentry; the gentry’s response to decisions made by political institutions as well as its requirements and wishes towards the political system. The author has come to the conclusion that the political culture of the Polotsk gentry at the turn of the 16th and 17th century is characterized by high level of political activity.