Butterwick-Pawlikowski, Richard; (2025) From delegation to representation: Polish‑Lithuanian parliamentary reform and the British example. In: Szijártó, István and Blockmans, Wim and Kontler, László, (eds.) Parliamentarism in Northern and East-Central Europe in the Long Eighteenth Century: Practices of Representation. Routledge: London, UK.

Text (Chapter 6 [Part II: Mandates and voting]) RB From Delegation to Representation Accepted.pdf - Accepted Version Access restricted to UCL open access staff until 22 October 2026. Download (439kB)

Abstract

Comparisons and contrasts have long been made between the mixed monarchical-republican forms of government of the early modern British kingdoms and Poland-Lithuania. However, because of the global ascent of the United Kingdom and the equally spectacular decline and dismemberment of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during the eighteenth century, contrasts have been accentuated. Particular attention has been devoted to the respective constitutional balances between monarchies and parliaments, to mutual opinions and asymmetrical influences, and even to elites’ mirrored self-perceptions as providentially favoured peoples. 1 The respective relationships between localities and parliaments, and between representatives and represented, have attracted less comparative attention.2 This chapter first sets out the case that at the heart of the Polish-Lithuanian parliamentary reforms enacted by the Constitution of 3 May 1791 was the replacement of the principle of delegation by that of representation, a change directly inspired by the example of the British Parliament. 3 Second, it reviews the problem of instructions given to British parliamentarians by their constituents and electors, with particular reference to the doctrine articulated by Edmund Burke in 1774. Third, in comparing the functioning of the PolishLithuanian parliamentary system with the British, with particular reference to mandates and accountability, it suggests a nuanced picture of the distribution and communication of sovereignty, power and influence in the United Kingdom and in the Commonwealth.

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