Urban Election System in Russia at End of 19th Century: Criticism in Provincial Periodicals

Abstract

The article provides a first-time examination of the evaluations of the urban election system in the Russian Empire during the period of 1890-1892, when the preparation and implementation of the new City Regulations were taking place. The study is based on materials from private provincial periodicals. The author highlights the essence and content of the criticism of the provincial press towards the institution of urban elections. The article presents the attitudes towards the issue of social composition of urban self-government bodies as revealed in the periodical press. Positions on the issue of suffrage and proposals for its expansion through tax and educational qualifications are identified. The analysis includes assessments of the national composition of city councils and urban administrations on the outskirts and within Jewish settlements. It demonstrates how the formation of parties based on national identity in urban self-government bodies was covered in the periodicals. Discussions on the merger of powers between the heads of administrative and executive bodies of urban self-government are examined. Satirical poems, which characterize the recorded attitude towards council members and provincial assemblies in pre-revolutionary Russia, who dishonestly perform their duties and disrupt city council meetings, are introduced into scholarly circulation. Satire targeting corrupt intentions of council members is also discussed.