Organization of elections among the native and foreign population in the first State Duma

Abstract

The study is devoted to the elections to the first Russian parliament among the representatives of the so-called “native” and “foreign” population of the Russian Empire. It is shown that in the conditions of the revolutionary events of 1905-1906 at the highest bureaucratic level for Russian absolutism, the fundamental issue was the issue of delegating part of the legislative initiative to elected representatives of society. It is noted that under pressure from local administrations - the Turkestan Governor-General and Caucasian Viceroyalty - it was decided to entrust voting right in a truncated form to the peoples of the Caucasus (Caucasian Viceroyalty), Turkestan Territory (Semipalatinsk Oblast), the Steppe Territory and the nomadic foreigners of Russian provinces and regions. It is indicated that a comparative analysis of official documentation on elective production and periodicals on the outskirts allows us to consider in detail the very process of the first elections, its differences and similarities in parts of the empire. The author concludes that the election rules proposed by the center made it possible for people who are not connected with the local administration to be represented by their people in the first State Duma. The analysis of the biographies of the candidates showed that the ethnic factor played a greater role than their political views.