The relations beetween the Legislative Sejm, the government and the Chief of State : system of governance between 1919 and 1921

Constructing the Polish State after the First World War required establishing a system of governance enabling consolidation of the state and its authorities. Initially, the burden of establishing a provisional system of governance fell on Józef Piłsudski, who founded it on the principle of uniformity of power. In accordance with the decree of 22 November 1918, the state in statu nascendi was headed by J. Piłsudski as Provisional Chief of State, with the government subordinated to him. Piłsudski combined his offi ce with the function of the Commander in Chief, which — in the circumstances of military confl icts accompanying the renascent Poland — strengthened his competences. The domination of the one-person organ was emphasised by the absence of a representative organ. The second stage of establishing the system of governance began with the summoning of the Legislative Sejm, which adopted the small constitution on 20 February 1919. The form of governance specifi ed therein was also based on the principle of uniformity of power. However, it differed fundamentally from the previous one. It implemented into its structure a highly representative, but also strongly pluralised government, where no party had the majority of mandates. The Legislative Sejm had the supremacy among state organs: the government, formally subordinated to it, and the Chief of State. Because of its potentially infi nite infl uence on the government, including co-deciding about its appointment, the Council of Ministers was made reliant on the changeable party coalitions within the Sejm. Political instability caused the works of both the Sejm and the Council of Ministers to be ineffective. The Chief of State, equipped with the competences of the Commander in Chief, politically supported by the Sejm, permanent in his opinions and consequently realizing them, steadily gained infl uence on shaping the policy of the state — including foreign and defence policy, as well as matters of the security of the state — taking advantage of intra-parliamentary and ministerial antagonisms. As a result, the system of governance formally based on parliament’s hegemony was transformed into a more parliamentary form, with conceivable balance between the Sejm, the government subordinated to it and Chief of State. Hence, the system of governance adopted in the small constitution, although formally close to assembly governance, was distinguished with features typical for parliamentary system from before its rationalisation