ZEMSTVO REFORM IN RUSSIA: HISTORICAL AND LEGAL CONTEXT

Abstract

The article deals with the issues of legal regulation of zemstvo self-government in the second half of the 19th century on the basis of valid acts of the Russian empire. Urgency of addressing this theme is determined by the next stage of municipal reform in Russia, conditioned by the inclusion of local self-government and state administration into unified system of public power organization by the Constitution of Russian Federation of 1993 and by the necessity of generalization of historical experience for providing legislative bodies of power with recommendations on application of some legal constructions that haven't lost their significance after a century. The author analyzes the guidelines, decrees and regulations, which laid down the order of organization of zemstvo self-government in the Vyatka province. She describes in detail the transformations carried out in the districts that make up the present-day Udmurtia, comparing the laws of 1864 and 1890. The competence of zemstvos, order of formation, functioning and interaction of zemstvo bodies in exercising their powers are revealed in details. Special attention is paid to the legal regulation of electoral rights of different categories of the population. At the end of the article some conclusions are formulated for effective organization of public administration with zemstvo reforms in modern legal conditions.