Models of Legal Regulating Urban Self-Government in Russia in the Middle of 19th Century and Early 20th Century

Abstract

Social and economic development in Russia in the 19th century affected the life of the towns as areas of industrial and commercial development. Domestic city self-government in the second half of the 19th century had a difficult path, repeatedly becoming the subject of numerous state reforms. The evolution of the legislation of the Russian Empire regulating public relations in this field reflects a complex process of searching by the state optimal approach to the legal regulation of creation and operation of the system of city self-government. Based on the study of this process from the middle of 19th century to the early 20th century, the author comes to the conclusion about the repeated transition by the state from one model of legal regulation of municipal government to another. Meanwhile is noted that the state in the conditions of conservation of the monarchy never refused completely from the application of nationwide law for urban settlements. On the basis of the comparative legal method, the author sets forth the fundamental differences in the application of specific approaches to the legal regulation of city self-government in Russia and Britain. In the United Kingdom, unlike the Russian Empire, there was regulatory experience of the relevant sector based on the local laws only. In addition, the author comes to the conclusion about the fundamental difference in the application of a mixed model of legal regulation of municipal government in which nationwide act and local laws operate. As a result of generalization of domestic and English experience of legal regulation of city self-government it is noted that all state transformations in this sphere within the Russian Empire, were most often initiated “from above” by the state itself. In England, the initiative of the city unions coming “from below” played the role of a factor of reform in this direction. In addition, an attempt to highlight various models of legal regulation of municipal government, which was relevant at this point in history, is made. Each of these models was characterized at different periods of corresponding stage for Russia or Britain either.