Józef Piłsudski kontra Sejm Ustawodawczy Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej w 1922 r. Uwagi na temat książki Janusza Farysia pt. Funkcjonowanie demokracji parlamentarnej w Drugiej Rzeczypospolitej. Konflikty wokół przesilenia rządowego w 1922 roku

Abstract

The aim of the review article is a discussion on a book by Janusz Faryś, Functioning of a parliamentary democracy in the Second Polish Republic. Conflicts around the government crisis in 1922 (Funkcjonowanie demokracji parlamentarnej w Drugiej Rzeczypospolitej. Konflikty wokół przesilenia rządowego w 1922 roku). The reviewed monograph is the first book devoted entirely to the crisis of Poland’s parliamentary democracy from summer 1922. The crisis occurred in the runup to the parliamentary and presidential elections and involved the longest government crisis in the history of the Second Polish Republic. It was triggered by a political confrontation between Poland’s Chief of State Józef Piłsudski, supported by the left-wing and centre-left parties and representatives of national minorities with his opponents on the right and central right. An open constitutional conflict between the Chief of State and the Legislative Sejm peaked during a failed attempt to push through a vote of no confidence in J. Piłsudski. Alongside an eloquent presentation of the origins, course and consequences of those events, the book by Janusz Faryś provides an in-depth analysis of factors that contributed to the weakness of Poland’s parliamentary democracy at that time.