Features of the Local Government and Self-Government System in Siberia in the 18th - Early 20th Centuries

The increased interest in the establishment and development of regional governance is associated not only with the desire of researchers to look deeper into the past, but also with practical needs. The relevance of the research topic is determined by the insufficient knowledge in the domestic historiography of local government and self-government in Siberia in the 18th - early 20th centuries. The object of the research is the local administration in the Siberian outskirts of the Russian Empire. The aim of the article is to conduct a comprehensive study of the peculiarities of the system of local government and self-government in Siberia in the 18th - early 20th centuries. The methodological basis of the research is formed by the classical principles used in historical research: scientific character, objectivity, and historicism. Among the research methods employed were: structural-functional, typological, and comparative-historical. The article reveals the features of the organization and activ ities of local government and self-government bodies in Siberia in the 18th - early 20th centuries and analyzes these features. The historical trends in the development of the system of local government and self-government bodies are determined in relation to the general processes of the development of Russian statehood. Despite the fact that the administrative and political incorporation of Siberia into the Russian state had been completed by the beginning of the 18th century, the institutions of state power have always had their own specifics here. The provincial reforms of Peter I and Catherine II received a rather contradictory interpretation in the region. Therefore, it is no coincidence that, in 1822, the outstanding Russian statesman and reformer M.M. Speransky drew up a special regional legislation for Siberia. A specific feature of local government in Siberia from the very beginning was the greater independence of the state apparatus than in the center of the country. The Siberian administration was characterized by an almost complete absence of self-government principles. Therefore, the powers of the administrative and police bodies in the Siberian outskirts of the country had their own specifics and were broader than in the European provinces of Russia. Specific to Siberia of the imperial period is also the almost complete subordination of local selfgovernment bodies to the police institutions of the region.

Keywords

Authors

References