The
Constitution of 3 May 1791 was adopted by the
Great Sejm (parliament) of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, a
dual monarchy comprising
Poland and
Lithuania. Drafted over 32 months beginning on 6 October 1788, and formally adopted as the
Government Act (
Ustawa rzadowa), the document was designed to redress the Commonwealth's political defects. The system of
Golden Freedoms, also known as the "Nobles' Democracy", had conferred disproportionate rights on the nobility (
szlachta) and over time had corrupted politics. The adoption of the Constitution was preceded by a period of agitation forand gradual introduction ofreforms beginning with the
Convocation Sejm of 1764 and the
election of
Stanislaw August Poniatowski as the Commonwealth's last king.