O sejmach elekcyjnych na nowo. Książka Tomasza Kucharskiego, Sejmy elekcyjne w Rzeczypospolitej Obojga Narodów w latach 1632–1733. Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Sejmowe, 2021 (ss. 433, ISBN: 978-83-7666-702-7).

This article discusses the book by Tomasz Kucharski devoted to the functioning of election sejms in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the years 1632–1733. The general assessment of this work is positive as its author successfully examines the electoral sejms in a synthetic way while showing the dynamics of the phenomenon. While doing so, he uses both historical and legal methods. Therefore, this review article includes some reflections on presentism as a scientific method, its benefits and limitations and, in addition, the advantages and disadvantages for the reviewed book. Kucharski usually copes well with the legal presentist approach. Due to the legal approach, he shows an interesting perspective on the functions of the sejm, the election procedures and the legal significance of the various actions taken during elections. Nevertheless, there are elements which, in my opinion, are a flaw in the method, e.g., the discussion of past elections through the prism of contemporary principles of electoral law, and the occasional inappropriate reasoning on the basis of past legal acts, resulting partially from the use of old editions of source materials without necessary precaution. These examples, despite the fact that overall they are rare in this well-written book, may serve as a warning to scholars using legal methods in describing past institutions.