| Abstract [eng] |
Representative democracy in Lithuania in 1918-1940 Kristina Gerčienė This paper analyzes the activities of the most important authorities as bodies of representative democracy, their most important functions and legal regulation in Lithuania in 1918-1940. This paper also examines the participation and activities of women in the context of the emerging state in 1918-1940 and examines the circumstances in which women were granted the right to vote during that period. In 1918 of february 16 the Council of Lithuania, as the only representative of the Lithuanian nation at that time, announced the restoration of Lithuania's independence. In 1919 the law on elections to the Constituent Assembly was one of the most modern legal acts in Europe. In 1920 of April 14-16 the elections were the first general, equal, secret and direct elections in Lithuania. One hundred years ago, the Lithuanian state found itself surrounded by countries that were the first to recognize equal voting rights for men and women, so both men and women could participate in the elections to the Constituent Assembly. The most important tasks of the Constituent Assembly were the following: to establish the form of state governance and to adopt a permanent Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania. In total, three provisional Constitutions of 1918, 1919, 1920 and 3 permanent Constitutions of 1922, 1928, 1938 were adopted during the interwar period. After the adoption of the first the principle of the separation of powers was enshrined in the permanent Constitution. Thanks to the adopted Constitution, the state parliament was given great powers and prerogatives, but due to the constant ruties of different parties in the parliament, it was not always possible to exercise these granted rights. After fierce disagreements and a coup in the country, the parliament was not elected for almost ten years, and the power of the parliament as a representative institution gradually lost its power. The president has become not only a component of the governing power, but also an independent body of the legislature. In this way, Lithuania moved from democratic governance to autocracy. |
