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Concept
Considerations on the Government of Poland
Summary
Considerations on the Government of Poland — also simply The Government of Poland or, in the original French, Considérations sur le gouvernement de Pologne (1782) — is an essay by Swiss philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau concerning the design of a new constitution for the people of Poland (or more exactly, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth). It represents Rousseau's last venture into political theory.
To many readers, The Government of Poland is surprising in the degree to which its recommendations sometimes defy the principles expressed in Rousseau's more famous work, The Social Contract. Contrary to the perception of Rousseau as a radical — a view again largely based on The Social Contract — in The Government of Poland Rousseau displays caution and conservatism: "Never forget, as you dream of what you wish to gain, what you might lose."
In the early 1770s, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was in a particularly challenging situation, threatened by its neighbors on all sides, particularly Russia, Prussia and Austria. In an attempt to retain independence against the superior military might of the three great powers, some Poles joined together to form the Bar Confederation. One member of the confederation, Michał Wielhorski, approached both Rousseau and Gabriel Bonnot de Mably to submit suggestions for the reformation of Poland's unique "Golden Liberty", which had deteriorated from a semi-republican, semi-democratic political system into a state of virtual anarchy.
Mably's recommendations were completed in two installments, the first in August 1770 and the second in July 1771. Generally, he called for more radical and substantial changes than Rousseau was to suggest; he was also able to finish his recommendations in a more timely fashion than Rousseau. It was not until 1772 that Rousseau completed his essay. By the time he finished, the First Partition of Poland had already occurred, on February 17, 1772. Russia, Prussia and Austria had invaded and occupied much of Poland.
The Government of Poland was not published until after Rousseau's death.
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