Common Organization of the Society (POS) (Polish: Powszechna Organizacja Spoà Âeczeà Âstwa) was the unfinished project of social and political organization proposed by colonel Walery Sà Âawek â a close associate of Józef Pià Âsudski and a key contributor to the April Constitution. The organization was to unite economic and professional self-governments and social organizations into a nationwide structure; it was to replace political parties in mediating between society and the state, and, according to some scholars, even have legal exclusivity to have a seat in the Sejm. The project was quashed by both Marshal à Âmigà Ây-Rydz and President Ignacy Moà Âcicki, and Sà Âawek himself eventually retired from political life.
After the dissolution of the BBWR and the adoption of new constitutional provisions, there was a need to clarify the rules of social life. This issue had been the subject of Walery Sà Âawek's reflections since the late 1920s. He emphasized that the state cannot cover all areas of public life, which is why some tasks should remain the responsibility of society. Both Sà Âawek and other representatives of Pià Âsudski's camp, such as Wacà Âaw Makowski and Adam Skwarczyà Âski, advocated harmonious cooperation between the state and society. According to Makowski, the authors of the April Constitution sought to transform the state from a tool of particular interests into a socialized state, with a clear distinction between the state and social spheres. The state was to unite citizens around the common good, while preserving the autonomy of the individual and the freedom of social development.
The formula for a dynamically conceived structure of the state-social whole was to be the socialization of the state. This term (adopted by Colonel Walery Sà Âawek) was based on the distribution of responsibility for the fate of the state to the entire society. This was to be done primarily through social organizations: educational, cultural and professional, bringing citizens together in teams for concrete, creative and free work. A special role - including in professional syndicates - should fall to the intelligentsia, a stratum - as Skwarczyà Âski, confident in the moral strength of the Polish intelligentsia tradition, emphasizes - that is above class and inherently âÂÂstate-forming.â For, unlike both the world of wage labor and the world of capital, the intelligentsia is bound to its profession not so much by material interest as by vocation, professional refinement and passion. Thanks to the educative influence of the intelligentsia, the worker can become, according to Skwarczyà Âski (who stands here, let us note, on the antipodes of the views of the integral syndicalist Georges Sorel, known for his view that workers should liberate themselves from the influence of intellectuals, harmful to their cause), âÂÂnot a mercenary for pay, but a creator perfecting his craft, loving his product and feeling his organic and moral connection to it.âÂÂ
After the dissolution of BBWR, Walery Sà Âawek attempted to clarify the principles of the Sanation camp, which led to the concept of the so-called Common Organization of Society (POS). Its origins are unclear: according to some (Janusz JÃÂdrzejewicz and Józef Winiewicz), the project was created at a specific moment, while others (Jan Hoppe) consider it to be the result of many years of reflection. The basic text of the program, dated at the turn of 1935 and 1936, was not published and was negatively assessed by Edward à Âmigà Ây-Rydz.
The POS was an extension of the idea of socialization of the state associated with Pià Âsudskiites. Its aim was to continue the reforms initiated by the April Constitution and to create a system of public representation without the mediation of political parties. The organization was to be based on municipal, county, and provincial structures, topped by a Sejm recruited from among distinguished activists. Sà Âawek advocated grassroots, controlled self-organization of society. POS was to integrate organizations willing to cooperate, regardless of their political background, with the exception of opposition parties. It was to include local governments, economic and professional organizations, cooperatives, fire brigades, and trade unions combined into a single chamber of labor. National minority organizations were also to be given equal status. This would create a pyramid of municipal, district and provincial councils, topped by the Sejm as a POS executives. The political leadership of the Organization was to be formed by the âÂÂColonelsâ and âÂÂJutro Pracyâ group.
The aim of the POS was to strengthen local social activity, promote honesty and work for the community, and push political parties into the background. The system was intended to be an alternative to both liberal democracy and totalitarian models.
At the turn of 1935âÂÂ1936, Sà Âawek sent out the text of the POS draft to various people for their opinions.This text was given by Sà Âawek to à Âmigà Ây-Rydz, receiving in response a harsh letter that the General Inspector âÂÂdoes not see the purpose of such an organization.â This reaction, combined with Sà Âawek's declining importance in the new political configuration of the Sanation's camp, caused him to abandon his attempts to put his concept into reality. He did not, however, cease further deliberations on the matter. His correspondence shows that in the summer of 1936 he began work on a text formulating, on the background of the history of the BBWR, remarks and conclusions âÂÂon the system of organization of the state.âÂÂ
The POS concept is difficult to evaluate, as one would have to take into account the effects of implementation, and these sometimes differed from the intentions. This was vividly demonstrated by the fate of the electoral law developed by SÃ Âawek, which, while formally preserving democracy, in fact introduced, through the kitchen door so to speak, authoritarianism. SÃ Âawek believed that the ordinance would socialize the state, but in reality it placed elections under the control of the administration. In the words of Jan Hoppe:
SÃ Âawek realized his mistake after the 1938 elections, when power passed into the hands of the OZN, and in the fall of that year, in an interview with "SÃ Âowo", he called for a change in the electoral law by deleting district assemblies.