The Republic of Our Dreams

The core features of the constitutional proposal examined in this volume—built on the principle of strategic decentralization—are outlined in this chapter. This framework envisions a carefully calibrated system of multilevel power sharing, balancing authority between the central government and newly empowered regional and local entities. Central to the proposal are two innovative institutions: a national senate composed of voivodes (chief executives of Poland’s provinces) and regional senates comprising all mayors within a given province. These senates would employ a voting system weighted by the population represented by each member. By mirroring the organizational structure of the EU Council, the proposed model establishes a coherent system of multilevel governance spanning from the municipal level to Brussels. While preserving Poland’s unitary character, this design introduces institutional mechanisms to acknowledge and accommodate the geographically rooted ideological diversity of Polish society.