M.S. Pyataev, graduate student

Mordovia M.E. Evseviev State Pedagogical Institute, Saransk, Russian Federation

S. K. Mkoyan, graduate student

Mordovia M.E. Evseviev State Pedagogical Institute, Saransk, Russian Federation

T.P. Kuznetsova, graduate student

Mordovia M.E. Evseviev State Pedagogical Institute, Saransk, Russian Federation

STATUS AND PROSPECTS OF RESEARCH OF CITY SELF-GOVERNMENT BODIES ACTIVITIES IN RUSSIA IN THE PRE-REFORM PERIOD

Scientists most often turn to the reforms of 1860-1870's investigating the history of the formation and development of local self-government in Russia [11]. Authority of the professional organizations (or class institutions) arose and acted, however, in a relatively complete form already at the end of the 18th century. The townspeople acquired a unique experience of self-government thanks to the Charter of Honor for cities of 1785 [5, pp. 3].

There are a number of works devoted to the study of city elected structures of certain provinces in the domestic historiography. The self-government of the Vyatka Territory is described in E.V. Kustova’s works [3]; the study of such process in Moscow province was conducted by A.A. Zakharova [1]; A.I. Kupriyanov studied the same social movement in Moscow, Tver, Tobolsk and Tomsk provinces [2]; N.A. Ryasnyanskaya analyzed the formation of town government in Ciscaucasia [10]; class institutions of the Middle Volga provinces were the subject of research by S.V. Pershin, T.A. Pershina, N.E. Romaykina, T.P. Kuznetsova [4, 5, 6, 7, 9]. In our opinion, a significant number of publications devoted to this problem allow us to proceed to the next stage of the study, namely the comparative analysis of the available factual information and establishing on this basis regularities of the transformation of local self-government institutions.

Having considered the activities of the Vyatka City Duma, E.V. Kustova noted that the willingness of citizens to work in elected institutions was the main factor to implement the new legislation: they often try to avoid participation in the ballot, since public activity was not paid for and took a lot of time [3, pp. 202]. The traditionalism of citizens' consciousness played a negative role for Russian province in the formation of new structures, such as Cities’s Dumas [3, pp. 202, 203]. As a result of the study, E. V. Kustova concludes that the duma defended citizens’ interests through close cooperation with the provincial administration [3, pp. 203, 204].

A.A. Zakharova believes that the role of the Mayor in the socio-economic development of Moscow province was very important. He was the head of all city government bodies also represented their interests in state structures and controlled the election procedure [1, pp. 32]. However, as the author believes, because the law did not clearly outline the terms of mayor’s reference often there was an inconsistency between city duma and the Crown Administration [1, p. 35].

A.I. Kupriyanov in his work study the elective structures of Moscow, Tver, Tobolsk and Tomsk provinces in the late 18th - early 19th centuries. In his opinion, in accordance with the law, the mayor did not have significant powers. The mayors of Siberian cities in their daily activities often exceeded the entitlements, expanded the boundaries of their abilities, concentrating in their hands sometimes considerable power [2].

N.A. Ryasnyanskaya in her thesis revealed significant differences in the management system of Central and Eastern Ciscaucasia cities from the norms of the Charter of Honor. This became possible due to the fact that the authorities in the late 18th - early 19th centuries were formed taking into account local ethnic specificity [10, p. 9]. The activities of city dumas and town halls in Ciscaucasia, according to the author, were disorderly, nevertheless they had a significant impact on the socio-economic development of this strategically important region. This researcher notes the specificity of local self-government of Ciscaucasia. In the first half of the 19th century there were dumas and town halls in some cities, while in others for a long time their functions were fulfilled by verbal (or provincial) court, sheriffs and commandants. The issues of public services improvement, income and expenditure statements management, educational institutions and hospitals opening were engaged in both city dumas, and magistrates and town halls [10, p. 9].

S.V. Pershin in his works noted that the process of government offices (or office bench) creating, the authorities allowed deviations from the Charter of Honor of 1785 that manifested in assignment of atypical duties to different bodies and posts [5, p. 235]. They also manifested in change of subordination nature among city structures [4, p. 43] and nomination of an arbitrary number of elective members [5, c. 174].

S.V. Pershin in the papers noted that the posts of city self-government in Middle Volga provinces were not easily adopted. So-called "successful" election was in Penza in the early 1800s, when the citizens even managed to nominate candidates for mayor post (until that time elections were most often non-alternative here) [5, p. 210]. The expansion of Kazan guilds membership in the mid-1820s was possible only after the intervention of the provincial authorities [6, p. 37-45].

The procedure for relations between elected members of city magistrates and representatives of the Crown Administration was not clearly defined by law. In this connection throughout the first half of the 19th century city self-government bodies were formed taking into account the specificity of these settlements. So, in Kazan in 1825 trade deputies, elected by the citizens in accordance with the "Additional regulation on the organization of guilds", declared independence from the six-vote city duma (an assembly of mayor and six duma members) [4, pp. 43].

Summing up the analysis of the works devoted to the study of city self-government bodies activity in Russia at the end of the 18th - the middle of the 19th centuries, we can conclude that the correspondence of city government with the provisions of the Charter of Honor of 1785 first of all depended on the ability of the central government to control the situation in provinces. The latter, that were located closer to the center, had better established communication with the Crown administration than the periphery ones.

Literature:

1. Zakharova, A.A. Rol' gorodskogo golovy v samoupravlenii i zhizn' goroda v pervoj polovine XIX v. (po materialam Moskovskoj gub.) [The role of mayor in self-government and city life in the first half of the 19th century (based on materials from Moscow Province)]. / A.A. Zakharova // Vestnik MGOU. Seriya «Istoriya i politicheskie nauki». [Bulletin of Moscow State Region University. "History and Political Sciences" series]. - 2012. - No. 5. - PP. 31-38.

2. Kupriyanov, A.I. Mezhdu «oligarhiej» i «demokratiej»: gorodskoe samoupravlenie v konce XVIII – pervoj polovine XIX v. [Between the "oligarchy" and "democracy": urban self-government in the late XVIII - first half of the XIX century.] // Trudy Instituta rossijskoj istorii. Vyp. 7. elektronnyj resurs. [Proceedings of Russian History Institute. Issue 7.] [Electronic resource]. http://ebookiriran.ru/index.php?view=article&section=8&id=89.

3. Kustova, E. V. Organy samoupravleniya v strukture provincial'nogo goroda doreformennoj Rossii (na materialah deyatel'nosti Vyatskoj gorodskoj dumy 1793-1870 gg.) [Self-governing bodies in the structure of provincial city in pre-reform Russia (on the materials of the Vyatka City Duma 1793-1870)]: dis ... candidate of historical sciences [dis… kand. ist. nauk] / Kustova Elena Vitalevna. - Kirov, 2004. - 276 p.

4. Pershin, S. V. K voprosu o realizacii «Dopolnitel'nogo postanovleniya ob ustrojstve gil'dij» 14 noyabrya 1824 g. [On the issue of the implementation of "Additional Resolution on the Organization of Guilds" November 14, 1824] / S. V. Pershin, T.A. Pershina, T.P. Kuznetsova // Ekonomicheskaya istoriya [Economic History]. 2015. No. 4 (31). - PP. 39-45.

5. Pershin, S. V. Soslovnye uchrezhdeniya v Rossii v pervoj polovine XIX veka (po materialam dvoryanskih i gorodskih obshchestv srednevolzhskih gubernij) [Class institutions in Russia in the first half of the 19th century (based on the materials of noble and urban societies of Middle Volga provinces)] / S. V. Pershin. - Saransk: Izdat. centr ISI MGU im. N. P. Ogareva [Publication center of Mordovia N. P. Ogarev State University], 2010. - 316 p.

6. Pershin, S.V. Sostoyanie cekhovogo remesla g. Kazani v pervoj polovine XIX veka [The state of craft guilds in Kazan in the first half of the 19th century] // Ekonomicheskaya istoriya [Economic History]. - 2012. - No. 1 (16). - PP. 37-45.

7. Pershin, S. V. Struktura byudzheta goroda Koz'modem'yanska v konce XVIII – seredine XIX vv. [The structure of Kozmodemyansk town budget at the end of the 18th - the middle of the 19th centuries.] / S.V. Pershin, N.E. Romaykina // Gumanitarnye nauki i obrazovanie [Humanities and Education.] - 2015. - No. 3 (23). - PP. 152-156.

8. Pershin, S. V. Formirovanie organov gorodskogo samoupravleniya v Rossii v poslednej chetverti XVIII – seredine XIX v.: regional'naya istoriografiya problemy [Formation of city self-government bodies in Russia in the last quarter of the 18th - the middle of the 19th century: regional historiography of the problem] // Istoricheskie, filosofskie, politicheskie i yuridicheskie nauki, kul'turologiya i iskusstvovedenie. Voprosy teorii i praktiki. [Historical, philosophical, political and legal sciences, culturology and art history. Questions of theory and practice.] - 2014. - No. 6-2 (44). - PP. 149-151.

9. Pershin, S. V. Formirovanie organov gorodskogo samoupravleniya v Rossii v poslednej chetverti XVIII – seredine XIX v.: sostoyanie i perspektivy issledovaniya problem [Formation of city self-government bodies in Russia in the last quarter of the 18th - the middle of the 19th century: the state and prospects of the problem research] / S.V. Pershin // Gumanitarnye nauki i obrazovanie [Humanities and Education.] - 2014. - No. 4 (20). - PP. 157-160.

10. Ryasnyanskaya, N.A. Gorodskoe samoupravlenie v Central'nom i Vostochnom Predkavkaz'e v konce XVIII – seredine XIX vv. [Urban self-government in the Central and Eastern Ciscaucasia at the end of the 18th - the middle of the 19th centuries]: avtoref. dis. … kand. ist. nauk [the author's abstract dis ... candidate of historical sciences] / Ryasnyanskaya Natalia Alexandrovna. - Stavropol, 2005. - 32 p.

11. Fedoseev, R.V. Deyatel'nost' dvoryanskih opek v guberniyah Srednego Povolzh'ya vo vtoroj polovine XIX v. [The activities of noble guardians in the provinces of the Middle Volga region in the second half of the 19th century]. / Fedoseev R.V. // Teoriya i praktika obshchestvennogo razvitiya [Theory and practice of social development]. - 2014. - No. 19. - PP. 122 - 125.