of which 53 failed to pass any legislation. Historian Jacek Jędruch notes that out of the 53 disrupted Sejms, 32 were disrupted by the liberum veto. Final years The 18th century saw an institution known as a "confederated sejm" evolve. It was a parliament session that operated under the rules of a confederation. Its primary purpose was to avoid disruption by the liberum veto, unlike the national Sejm, which was being paralyzed by the veto. On some occasions, a confederated sejm was formed of the whole membership of the national Sejm so that the liberum veto would not operate. The second half of the 18th century, marking the age of the Enlightenment in Poland, also witnessed an increased trend aiming at the reform of the inefficient governance of the Commonwealth. Reforms of 1764–1766 improved the proceedings of the Sejm. Majority voting for non-crucial items, including most economic and tax matters, was introduced, with binding instructions from sejmiks being outlawed. The road to reform was not easy, as conservatives, supported by foreign powers, opposed most of the changes and attempted to defend the liberum veto and other elements perpetuating the inefficient governance, most notably by the Cardinal Laws of 1768. The liberum veto was finally abolished by the Constitution of 3 May 1791, adopted by a confederated sejm, which permanently established the principle of majority rule. The achievements of that constitution, however, which historian Norman Davies called "the first constitution of its kind in Europe", were undone by another confederated sejm, meeting at Grodno in 1793. That Sejm, under duress from Russia and Prussia, ratified the Second Partition of Poland, anticipating the Third Partition of Poland, the final dissolution of the Polish-Lithuanian state, just two years later. Significance Harvard political scientist Grzegorz Ekiert, assessing the history of the liberum veto in Poland, concludes: The principle of the liberum veto preserved the feudal features of Poland's political system, weakened the role of the monarchy, led to anarchy in political life, and contributed to the economic and political decline of the Polish state. Such a situation made the country vulnerable to foreign invasions and ultimately led to its collapse. Political scientist Dalibor Roháč noted that the "principle of liberum veto played an important role in [the] emergence of the unique Polish form of constitutionalism" and acted as a significant constraint on the powers of the monarch by making the "rule of law, religious