Organizational structure of the state civil service of Russia in Russia during the XVI – XVII centuries

Abstract

This article examines the organizational structure of the state civil service during institutionalization of the system of public administration in the XVI – XVII centuries. The author describes the characteristic traits of this stage of development of the civil service system as a whole, including the highly personalized nature of carrying service, narrow separation between civil and military service, as well as the presence of rank system that was applicable to both the government apparatus and the society. In this context, the author explores the key misinterpretations of the term “rank”, its partial conflation with the concept of “post”, and the absence of universal definition. Research is also conducted on correlation between the organizational structure of the civil service and the class composition of the Tsardom of Russia, which has proven the possibility of separating the system of ranks of public servants from the unified social hierarchy. Special attention is given to the clerical service and its organizational structure: comparison of the status of clerical servants with the elements of the legal status of modern civil servant considering this type of service as the closest prototype of the state civil service. The basic traits of the clerical service include professional character, rigid hierarchy, stability, enforcement nature of activity, additional rights and responsibilities. The author highlights the key role of the concept of “rank” as the characteristic of the position of am individual within service hierarchy, used to for creating a prototype of the organizational structure of the state civil service. The scientific novelty consist in determination of the characteristic features of the organizational structure of civil service as whole, and state civil service in particular, which prove the existence of the developed, although non-unified hierarchy that later provided the framework for the reforms of Peter the Great. This confirms the gradual and consistent, rather than revolutionary nature of the transformations introduced by the Table of Ranks. Such approach gives a more comprehensive perspective upon the evolution of the institution of organizational structure of the state civil service.