Local self-government in comprehension of liberal representatives of Russian jurisprudence of the late XIX - early XX centuries

Local self-government is considered by Russian lawyers as an integral part of the ideal of the legal state. Under local self-government, they understand the administrative bodies based on the basis of the national representation, which have the power to adopt generally binding legal regulations for the territory, under the control of the central authority on the basis of the law, to independantly solve issues of regional and national importance in order to observe local interests and needs. The main goals of local self-government are seen by Russian researchers in smoothing social contradictions; power with the people; administration in accordance with the actual local interests, needs and wishes of the population; formation of civil maturity and independence - the basis of full political life. Administrative self-government, in the opinion of domestic lawyers, is manifested in the right of the population to choose representatives of the local administration; the possibility to adopt generally binding legal regulations for the area; the right to decide local issues independantly and to form their own bodies; the solution of problems of national importance. The belief in the unity of the historical path of Russia and the West contributed to focusing the interests of Russian lawyers on the study of the types of local self-government of the flagship of constitutionalism - England, France and the United States. The appearance of local self-government in Russia they are associated with the reforms of Alexander II. Prospects of domestic local self-government scientists see in development of democratic tendencies characteristic for Western European countries. This is possible only on condition of completion, begun in 1861 of grandiose transformations - transformation of autocracy into a constitutional monarchy, significant democratization of legislation, purposeful formation of a high level of legal consciousness and legal culture of citizens. It is hardly possible to speak about the formation of the original Russian liberal theory of local self-government at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Actually, this task was not set up by scientists; the main thing for them was to comprehend the essence of this institution, assess its merits and shortcomings, search for a place in the political system of russian society. The authors' deep conviction that the viability and effectiveness of local self-government is due to the peculiarities of the historical development of each particular people, the social structure of society, the form of the state, the level of legal consciousness and the legal culture of citizens deserves attention.

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