Incredible commitment: Influence accumulation, consensus-making, and the collapse of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Mikołaj Malinowski

Explorations in Economic History, 2025, vol. 95, issue C

Abstract: I aim to explain the petrification of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's parliament due to the veto in the 17th and 18th centuries. I study genealogical data on senatorial ancestors and identify the formation of an oligarchic elite. I propose that the accumulation of influence by powerful individuals undermined their vested interest in the state's continuation. This weakened the elite's ability to credibly commit to political agreements, reach consensus, and sustain the extractive regime. I argue that the overly limited king failed to act as an arbiter in oligarchic disputes. This challenges the conventional view regarding the benefits of limited royal authority.

Keywords: Oligarchy; Inequality; Limited-access state; State failure; Parliamentarism; Little divergence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H11 N44 P48 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:exehis:v:95:y:2025:i:c:s0014498324000597

DOI: 10.1016/j.eeh.2024.101633

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