ESTABLISHING OF GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND MUNICIPALITIES IN GALICIA IN 1772–1918

Abstract

The review of government agencies and municipalities development in the territory of crown land Galicia and Lodomeria being a part of Austria and Austro-Hungarian in 1772–1918 is presented in the article. Special attention is to research of the Acts with normative-legal status, which regulate the activity of government agencies and municipalities. It is determined, that in Galicia in 1772–1918 the organization of local government had evolutionary development from the medieval forms to the model, which spread in Europe in XX centuries. Namely from the government organization based the estates division of society, where authority is concentrated in the hands of privileged strata and officer competence was less important than the place in the social hierarchy to the completing local authority with the professional staff, having correspond education. We investigated the evolution of dualism the power system in such places as: governorates (vicegerencies) and powiats, that acted as local authorities and powiats and local (rural) gminas, which were the government agencies and municipalities and had both own and delegated authorities. Of course, in practice in XIX – at the beginning XX centuries in Galicia there were observed the numeral problems in the organization of local government. First of all there are the financial dependent on the government agencies from the center, the continual intervention in their activities by the powerful district leaders (governors or vicegerents) or the leaders of powiats (chiefs) etc. So, in the second part of XIX centuries the government of Galicia accomplished the Galicia vicegerency headed by appointive Austrian imperator vicegerent, who was responsible for the state of affairs in the district. At the level of powiats, the authorities were represented by the stewards of powiats, subordinate and beholden to the governor. Additional to this, in the powiats there were being chosen gminas. There are the government agencies and municipalities of powiat. At the lowest level in the towns and villages, the authority didn’t create its government, and to perform own activities it used rural and village gminas (government agencies and municipalities of town or village), delegated them the part of its authorities. Except this in the places the domesnial (aristocratic) authorities, who concerning competence were compared to the rural or town gminas, however, they were in financial and organization dependence upon local landlord. Analyzed directions of development and reforming the institutions of local authorities let to find out the faults and problems in the forming of personal composition, pointed power authorities. The conclusion is that in despite of evident problems in forming Austrian bureaucratic system in passing from absolute monarchy to the monarchy of constitutional type, it was able to create enough efficient model of local government, which based on the principles of electivity and connection of state interests and local community. Fractionally, it was able to realize the principles of collegiality, however unattainable was to organize the activity, based on the legal, organization and material-financial self-dependence.