The general sejm was the parliament of Kingdom of Poland. It had evolved from the earlier institution of wiec. It was one of the primary elements of the democratic governance in the Kingdom of Poland. The sejm was a powerful political institution, and from early 16th century, the Polish king could not pass laws without the approval of that body. The Sejm and the Seimas of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania was merged into the Sejm of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by the Union of Lublin in 1569. Duration and frequencies of the sejms changed over time, with the six-week sejm session convened every two years being most common. Sejm locations changed throughout history. The number of sejm deputies and senators grew over time. Sejms have seen mostly majority voting. The word sejm derives from the verb sjąć się meaning to get together, with similar words in some other Slavic languages, of proto-Slavic origin *sъjęti < *sъjemti In English, the terms general, full or ordinary sejm are used for the sejm walny.
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