Citations:liberum veto


 * 1994, Juliet Vale (translator), (author), A History of France II: The Royal French State: Louis XI–Henri IV, 1460–1610, Basil Blackwell Ltd, ISBN 0631170278, “Introduction: Classic Monarchy”, page 5:
 * Finally, under the auspices of a cardboard monarch, we should note the Polish Diet with its liberum veto: the least significant magnate could use this procedure to block the wishes of an otherwise unanimous assembly.
 * ibidem, page 10:
 * From a purely institutional perspective, the introduction of the practice of the liberum veto (unrestricted veto) in 1652 anticipated that all decisions of the Diet should be unanimous. This edict flew in the face of all the largely semi-authoritarian structures of classic monarchies. Shortly afterwards the Polish population was dramatically reduced by Russian and Swedish wars and invasions (1654–67). The flowering of classic monarchy, on the other hand, was characterized by stable population levels, well above the requisite minimum.