Government and politics Poland is a parliamentary republic The chief of state is a president who is elected by popular vote for a five-year term, and is eligible for a second term The president appoints the prime minister and deputy prime ministers, as well as the cabinet according to the proposals of the prime minister, both typically from the majority coalition The Polish Parliament has two chambers The lower chamber (Sejm) has 460 members, elected for a four-year term by proportional representation in multiseat constituencies, with a five percent threshold (eight percent for coalitions, threshold waived for national minorities) The Senate (Senat) has 100 members elected for a four-year term in 40 multi-seat constituencies under a rare plurality bloc voting method where several candidates with the highest support are elected from each electorate Suffrage is universal to those aged 18 years and over When sitting in joint session, members of the Sejm and Senate form the National Assembly The National Assembly is formed on three occasions: Taking the oath of office by a new president, bringing an indictment against the president, and declaration of a president's permanent incapacity to exercise their duties due to the state of their health Only the first type of sitting has occurred to date On the approval of the Senate, the Sejm also appoints the Ombudsman or the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection for a five-year term The Ombudsman guards the rights and liberties of Polish citizens and residents The judicial branch comprises the Supreme Court of Poland, the Supreme Administrative Court of Poland, the Constitutional Tribunal of Poland, and the State Tribunal of Poland Poland has a mixture of continental (Napoleonic) civil law and holdover communist legal theory, although the latter is gradually being removed The Constitutional Tribunal supervises the compliance of statutory law with the Constitution, and annuls laws which not comply Its rulings are final (since October 1999) Court decisions can be appealed to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg Administrative divisions Poland's provinces are largely based on the country's historic regions Poland is subdivided into 16 administrative regions, known as voivodeships In turn, the voivodeships are divided into powiaty, second-level units of administration, equivalent to a county, district or prefecture in other countries, and finally communes, gminy Foreign relations Poland has forged ahead on its economic reintegration with the West Poland became a full member of NATO in 1999, and of the European Union in 2004 Poland became an associate member of the European Union (EU) and its defensive arm, the Western European Union (WEU) in 1994 In 1996 Poland achieved full OECD membership and submitted preliminary documentation for full EU membership Poland joined the European Union in 2004, along with the other members of the Visegrád group (source: newworldencyclopedia.org)