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A tour through the Sejm building

Proceedings of the Sejm
Source: Kancelaria Sejmu/Rafał Zambrzycki, licencja: CC BY 2.0.

Link to the lesson

Before you start you should know

  • The Sejm and the Senate exercise legislative power in the Republic of Poland.

You will learn

  • You will know who can be elected to the Sejm.

  • You will understand the rules that apply to the elections to the Sejm.

  • You will see what the Sejm building looks like from the inside.

  • You will be able to explain the role and meaning of most characteristic elements that can be found in the interiors of the Sejm building.

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nagranie abstraktu

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nagranie abstraktu

According to the Constitution the supreme power in the Republic of Poland is vested inbe vested invested in the Nation. The Nation exercises such power directly or through their representatives (the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, Art. 4). Those representatives are the senators elected to the Senate, and deputies elected to the Sejm. The Sejm and the Senate have legislative power in our country. There are 460 deputies in the Sejm. Elections to the Sejm are universal, equal, direct and proportional, and are conductedconductedconducted by secret ballot.

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Fotografia barwna przedstawiająca sejmową salę posiedzeń - największą salę Sejmu Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. Umieszczono na niej napisy. 1. The Sejm shall elect from amongst its members a Marshal of the Sejm and Vice-Marshals. The Marshal of the Sejm shall preside over the debates of the Sejm, safeguard the rights of the Sejm as well as represent the Sejm in external matters. Napis opatrzono fotografią barwną. W głębi Sejmowej Sali Posiedzeń, pośrodku, za stołem prezydialnym zasiada Marszałek prowadzący obrady. Przed stołem znajduje się mównica sejmowa. 2. The Sejm shall appoint standing committees, and may also appoint special committees, as well as investigative committees to examine a particular matter. Tekst opatrzono fotografią barwną przedstawiającą obrady członków jednej z komisji sejmowych. 3. The Sejm is chosen for a 4-year term of office. The Sejm may shorten its term of office by a resolution passed by a majority of at least two-thirds of the votes of the statutory number of deputies. Also the President of the Republic may order shortening of the Sejm’s term of office: he has to do so in the event that a vote of confidence has not been granted to the Council of Ministers and it has not been chosen, and he may choose to do so if, after 4 months from the day of submission of a draft budget to the Sejm, it has not been adopted or presented to him for signature. 4. The uniformed formation guarding the Sejm is the Marszałkowska Guard. Tekst opatrzono fotografią barwną przedstawiającą Straż Marszałkowską. Strażnicy stoją na baczność, w dwóch szeregach. Ubrani w granatowe mundury i czapki ze złotymi zdobieniami. Na dłoniach białe rękawiczki. 5. The Sejm sittings are public and broadcast by television stations. Tekst opatrzono fotografią barwną. W Sejmowej Sali posiedzeń, na galerii dwaj operatorzy. Za pomocą kamer rejestrują obrady Sejmu. 6. In the Sejm, the Children and Youth sessions take place every year on June 1. The first of them took place in 1994. Tekst opatrzono fotografią barwną. W Sejmowej Sali Posiedzeń, stojąc na mównicy, przemawia Rzecznik Praw Dziecka, Marek Michalak. 7. The Sejm is open to all visitors. Tekst opatrzono fotografią barwną. W Sejmowej Sali posiedzeń, na galerii grupa dzieci z opiekunami.
A mini guide through the Sejm
Source: Adrian Grycuk, Grzegorz Gołębiowski, Katarzyna Czerwińska, Sejm RP, licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.
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Exercise 1
Do you know what it means that the elections to the Sejm are universal, equal, direct and proportional, and are conducted by secret ballot? Explain.

Do you know what it means that the elections to the Sejm are universal, equal, direct and proportional, and are conducted by secret ballot? Match the expressions with their explanations.

voters choose a candidate they wish to see elected without any intermediary body, each voter has the same number of votes (formal equality), and each vote has the same weight and value (material equality), each citizen has the right to vote and stand for election, the number of seats won by each party is adequate to the number of votes it has received, a voter’s choice is anonymous

universal  
equal  
direct  
proportional  
conducted by secret ballot  

Any citizen over 18 has the right to vote, but you have to be over 21 to stand for electionstand for electionstand for election. Participation in the elections is not mandatorymandatorymandatory. The Sejm is chosen for a 4‑year term of office.

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Exercise 2
When electing deputies and senators we are using… Możliwe odpowiedzi: 1. the right to vote, 2. the right to stand for election, 3. the right to govern

When electing deputies and senators we are using…

  • the right to vote
  • the right to stand for election
  • the right to govern
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Exercise 3
Listen to the abstract recording to review the material and new vocabulary. Then do the vocabulary exercise. Explain the meaning of following words: be vested in; conducted; stand for election; mandatory. If it's too difficult, use lesson's glossary.

Listen to the abstract recording to review the material and new vocabulary. Then do the vocabulary exercise. Match the pairs: English and Polish words.

obowiązkowe, przeprowadzane, należy do, kandydować w wyborach

be vested in  
conducted  
stand for election  
mandatory  

Keywords

legislative power; senators, deputies; universal, equal, direct, proportional elections; secret ballot, term of office

Glossary

be vested in
be vested in
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Nagranie słówka: be vested in

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Nagranie słówka: be vested in

należy do

conducted
conducted
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Nagranie słówka: conducted

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Nagranie słówka: conducted

przeprowadzane

stand for election
stand for election
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Nagranie słówka: stand for election

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Nagranie słówka: stand for election

kandydować w wyborach

mandatory
mandatory
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Nagranie słówka: mandatory

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Nagranie słówka: mandatory

obowiązkowe

Lesson plan (Polish)