INTRODUCTION

In this chapter, by referring to theoretical concepts, we try to answer the question of whether the Polish Parliament is still a representative body. In responding to this question, we would like to contribute to a better understanding of how the concept of delegation in representative democracy may be misused and, consequently, may lead to the impairment of the role of the Parliament.

We take into account the formal and substantive conditions of representativeness. In our opinion, the formal condition is the existence of an appropriate electoral law, while the substantive conditions refer to deliberation and discussion within the legislative process. These issues are analysed with reference to constitutional events throughout Polish history.

Thus, we discuss how the ‘chain of delegation’ is constructed (section 2). Then, we describe the significance of deliberations and discussions for the representativeness of the Sejm (section 3) in order to indicate the issues raised by populism for that representativeness (section 4). Subsequently, we indicate how the chain of delegation can be disrupted in legal solutions and parliamentary practice (section 5). Finally, we offer a brief conclusion to our research (section 6).

CONSTRUCTING THE ’ CHAIN OF DELEGATION ‘

Our in-depth analysis is based on the concept described by K. Str o m, W.C. Müller and T. Bergman. According to their findings, a delegation within democratic politics is understood as a process of delegating. The process within a representative democracy creates a specific ’ chain of delegation ‘, beginning with the delegation of powers from voters to their representatives. In the model approach, the nation (all citizens) delegates its legislative competence to representatives, who constitute the normative framework for the functioning of other authorities. In other words, democratic legislation takes the form of a special representative body – the Parliament. The nation is the first element of the chain of delegation, and the Parliament is the second. Thus, the existence of the Parliament as a representative body is necessary for the proper functioning of the chain of delegation.