Local government in the Russian Empire

The local government in the Russian Empire is a centralized system of territorial administrative governance, structured on the Governorates (Russian: Губе́рния, Guberniya), in addition to the Governorates-General, which haveprimarily intermediate coordination functions.

Below the Governorate there are further subdisions established at need (i.e. Rayons and Municipalities).

Currently, there are 163 Governorates. Governorates are administered by Governors appointed by the Tsar and drawn from the civil service; Governors are assited by an elected Legislative Council.

Ministry of Internal Affairs

Among resposibilities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs here is overseeing and guiding territorial and civil policies.

The MVD keeps extensive files on every land under its care. The document containing these files is referred to as the MVD Factbook, edited and published each year. These files contain everything from topographic maps to the information on the materials the city sewer system is built from. The MVD exercises its territorial control through the Main Directorate of Territorial Affairs (Russian: Главное Управление по Tерриториальных Дел, ГУTД; Glavnoye Upravleniye no Territorial'nykh Del, GUTD). In turn, the GUTD is subdivided into three subordinate Direcotrates:

• Directorate of General Affairs: it is the main operational arm of the GUTD, and it performs functions relating to general administration and planning, including support of the tasks of government in the territory, guarantee the regular functioning of the elected organs, supervising the registry.
• Directorate of Protection of Waters: it is the executive-scientific department focused on the conditions of the oceans and the atmosphere. The Directorate is the counterpart of both General Affairs and Land Management Directorates, and supports the usage of internal waters, guides the protection of water resources.
• Directorate of Public Lands Management: the Directorate is the executive department which administers public lands. Therefore the Directorate is in charge of distributing accessible public lands.

Inspectorate for Territorial Compliance

The Inspectorate for Territorial Compliance is established in order to ensure the effectiveness of the local government of the Russian Empire, with a view to eliminating the two major faults, inefficiency and corruption. The Inspectorate acts through teams of inspectors and auditors who are free at any time to enter the local offices and watch the work done there.
The Central Office of Complaints is an internal department, whose sole purpose is to find and eliminate inefficiency within the state’s administration. Any citizen could file a complaint against a local government official.

Central Control Committee

The Central Control Committee is an organ of the Ministry of the West tasked with control functions over the acts of local authorities. The Control Committee supervises the legality of local authorities acts and it may also exercise control over the very content. The Committee works alongside with the Inspectorate for Territorial Compliance.

Governorate

Governorate Губе́рния
Location	Russian Empire
Number	163
Populations	41,546 (Naryan-Mar Governorate) – 10,382,754 (Moscow)
Areas	864 sqkm (Sevastopol) – 3,103,200 sqkm (Yakutsk Governoate)
Subdivisions	Rayons

The Governorates of the Russian Empire are the first-level political subdivisions of the State. Since 18 March 2014, the Russian Empire constitutionally has consisted of 163 Governorates. Twelve Governorates (Akmolinsk, Ashgabat, Kerch, Kiev, Moscow, Nikolayev, Odessa, Petrograd, Pishpek, Rostov, Sevastopol, Tashkent) are Special Cities (Russian: Особые города). Such Governorates have a status of both city and separate subject which comprises other cities and towns.
It is to note that, differently from the central administration, which is a mere extension of the Tsar's will, the provincial government as a whole is recognised some intrinsic autonomy. Regional governments in Russia are relatively autonomous; each subject has its own administrative regulation codes, as well as manages its internal government. The government of Russia provides money for an administration which answers to the Tsar of Russia through the Government. Officials are appointed rather than elected. According to the Russian Constitution, the Russian Empire consists of three classes of Governorates, all of which are subjects of the Russian Empire. The Governorates have equal representation - four delegates each - in the Imperial Council, the upper house of the Imperial Assembly. They do, however, differ in the degree of autonomy they enjoy.
Governorates lack full separate legislative authority and therefore they cannot write their own statutory law; each Governorate is administered under laws passed by the Government of the Russian Empire. They levy their own taxes and, in return, receive a decreasing part of their budget from the central government, which gives them a portion of the taxes it levies. Governorates have some discretionary power over infrastructural spending, e.g., education, public transit, universities and research, and assistance to business owners. Local services of the State administration are traditionally organised at Governorate level, where the Governor represents the Government. Since Russia is an unitary state, there is little true political power and weight that Governorates actually hold. Governorates are subservient to the central government, but in practice provincial officials have discretion with regard to economic policy. However, powers of the central government is (with the exception of the military) not exercised through a parallel set of institutions.
The Governorate seat of government is called the Capital City and is generally a city of some importance, roughly at the geographical centre of the district. Each Governorate is administered by a Governor assisted by a Council, an assembly democratically elected. The Governor often is a retired military officer and is appointed by the Tsar.

1st Class-Governorates

1st Class-Governorates differ from other subjects in that they have the right to petition to be granted their own co-official language, have their own reinforced statute, and have an anthem. 1st Class-Governorates have some autonomous rights over natural resources and internal budgets. The Tsar, trough an his own decree, may grant 1st Class-Governorates additional powers. The amount of autonomy given differs by Governorate according the precise need.

The constitution of the Russian Empire is the ultimate authority over the 1st Class-Governorates.

2nd Class-Governorates

Each 2nd Class-Governorates features a state government holding authority over a defined geographic territory, with a Council that is democratically elected. The Governor is the highest executive position of the Government, and is appointed by the Tsar. 2nd Class-Governorates may be divided into Rayons and Rayon-level cities.

Governor

The Governor (Russian: Губернатор, Gubernator) is the head and the chief executive of each of the subjects of Russia, directly subordinate to the Imperial authorities and part of the State civil service of Russia. The Governor is the political and ceremonial head of the subject.
The Imperial system of local government gives two broad aspects for the various heads of local government bodies: on one hand, they are representatives of their communities and are charged with limited self-government functions; on the other hand, they are representatives of the Empire, of the Imperial Crown, of the Emperor and of the person of Emperor Kyrill II, and therefore are empowered with the duty of exercise the sovereign functions, i.e. mainly collecting Imperial taxes and revenues, ensuring instruction, guaranteeing the public order and security and giving execution to all Government policies.

In all subjects, the Governor is appointed by the Tsar on proposal of the Minister of Internal Affairs. The Governor often is a retired military officer.

Governors may also perform ceremonial roles, such as greeting dignitaries, conferring state decorations, issuing symbolic proclamations. The governor also has an official residence.

Powers

The Governor heads the whole administration of the relevant subject, including oversight over the police, and has some control over government budgeting, the power of appointment of many officials, and a considerable role in regulation. The governor supervises over the zemstvo self-government at all levels. The governor is the chairman ex-officio of all the numerous provincial presences and committees, coordinating the activities of all provincial departments through interagency meetings.
Even outside its role of chief of the civil administration of the Empire within the Governorate, the Governor has some specific powers:

• The right of general and sudden audit in all administrative subdvisions of the civilian government of the Governorate (except for those exempt from this by special rules);
• The right to oppose to appointment or transfer of civil servants (excluding Police personnel, as well as personnel of other administrations not subject to Governor's purview), if he recognizes them as unreliable;
• The right to recomend civil servants for awards and decorations;
• The right to terminate by all means anything contrary to public order (closure of clubs, meetings, artels, etc.): he is the supreme Authority of Police in the Governorate, senior to the relevant Police Director.

The governor also has extensive supervisory and control functions in relation to zemstvo and city institutions that did not belong to state authorities, as well as in relation to peasant estates.

Appointment

The Governor is officially appointed to his role by the Tsar. The Ministry of Internal Affairs first presents their candidates for evaluation to the Tsar, who then appoints and revokes the Governor after a final period of evaluation. There are no set term limits for officials assigned to territorial government duties, though they can be removed from their position at the will of the Tsar. Governors can also be moved from Governorate to Governorate, meaning that it is not unusual for Governors to be appointed to a Governorate in which they have no prior experience or personal connection.

There is no explicit law regarding appointment of Governors. Governors may be prominent political figures, as well as Tsar's trusted adivors and allies, nobles, senior military officers (both active and retired) or civilian officials. Even if the designated Governor is not a career official, he is to be equated to specific ranks:

• Governorates of 1st Class are administered by Governors ranking State Councillor, 2nd class.
• Governorates of 2nd Class are administered by Governors ranking State Councillor, 3rd class.
• Governorates of 3rd Class are administered by Governors ranking Councillor of His Majesty's Civil Service, 1st class.

Vice-Governor

The deputy governor was called vice-governor ; in the absence of the governor, he received all his powers. The post of the vice-governor belongs to the rank immediately lower than the Governor.

Government Board

The Government Board is the most senior collective body in each Governorate, governing it by virtue of laws, in the name of the Imperial Majesty. The Government Board is subordinate to the Governor and belongs to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Government Board is an institution with a permanent staff, responsible for the administration of the Governorate in the broadest sense.
The Government Board is a coordinating body, tasked with carrying out executive orders of the central government and with controlling subordinate institutions. Individual Directorates receive their orders directly from relevant Ministries.
The Government Board consists of eleven Directorates:

• Cabinet of the Governor: is the Governor's staff, coordinated by a Chief of Cabinet; it is in direct collaboration with the Governor and assists him in the exercise of his own functions, too detailed and complex to be carried out without high level assistance. The Cabinet is responsible for handling confidential affairs, secretarial issues, economic affairs, labour disputes and control of local authorities.
• General Affairs Directorate: engaged in general office work, administrative matters, order services, consumption tax of the municipalities and religious affairs and support to the Presidency Council, sorting out various disputes between departments and complaints, and headed by senior officials of the Civil Service;
• Local Government Directorate: dealing with local government, control of the affairs of charities and assistance institutions and of the Imperial Revolutionary Organization. It is under senior officials of the Internal Affairs Civil Service;
• Medical Directorate, under the Medical Inspector;
• Construction Directorate, under the Chief Engineer;
• Veterinary Directorate, under the Veterinary Inspector;
• Land Survey Directorate, under the supervision of the Land Surveyor;
• Directorate of State Property, under the Chief Administrator;
• Industries Directorate, under the Representative of Imperial Production Planning Committee;
• Prison Directorate, under the Prison Director;
• Police Directorate, under the Police Director.

Directorate chiefs rank two levels below the relevant Governor, with the exception of the Police Director, who ranks only one level below the Governor. Most important matters are decided by the Presidency Council, a meeting consisting of the Governor, Vice-Governor and the Directorate Chiefs. In practice, the Presidency Council is rarely summoned and the governors decide matters individually.

Governorate General Council

The Governorate General Council (Russian: Генеральный Cовет Губернаторства; General'nyy Sovet Gubernatorstva) is the Governorate assembly advisory body. It promotes Rayon policies and provides advisory support to the Governorate administration. Additionally, the General Council approves the Governorate regulations and tax proposals. The Governor is the ex-officio chairman of the Governorate General Council. The Assembly consists of four quotas: one fourth of the members is elected for 5 years by the Zemstvo Governorate Congress; one fourth of the members is elected by direct and secret universal suffrage through single-member constituencies; one fourth of the members is appointed by the Governor; one fourth of the members is elected by the local Assembly of the Nobility. The Governorate General Council is made up of:

• 80 members in Special Cities, where it is called City Duma;
• 60 members in Governorates, 1st Class;
• 40 members in Governorates, 2nd Class;
• 28 members in Governorates, 3rd Class.

Assembly of the Nobility

The Assembly of the Nobility is an organ of noble self-government in the Russian Empire. The Assemblies of the Nobility operate at the governorate level. The elected head of the Assembly of the Nobility had the title of Master of the Nobility. Assemblies of Nobility meets once every three years. Extraordinary meetings may also be called, but this requires permission from the Governor.
The Assemblies of the Nobility are engaged in solving local social and economic issues, while they are prohibited from discussing issues of state structure. The participants in the meeting are representatives of the noble society of this territory.
The Assembly of the Nobility is integral part of the Governorate General Council, togheter with the universally-elected part and the Zemstvo Governorate Congress.

Rayon

The Rayon (Russian: Район) is the second of the three levels of government below the national level, between the Governorate and the subordinate levels. Rayons are subordinate to Governorates and may be cities on their own (i.e. directly subordinated to the Governorate administration) or may be further subdivided into towns or being organized as Volosts. Rayons are administered by civilian officials appointed by the relevant Governor, with the exception of the Volost.
The Rayon government is an administrative branch office dispatched by the higher-level Governorate administration. The chief of the Rayon government is appointed by the Minister of Internal Affairs.
Rayons main areas of responsibility include the management of a number of social and welfare allowances, of junior high school buildings and technical staff, of local roads and school and rural buses, and a contribution to municipal infrastructures.

Rayon Assembly

The Rayon Assembly (Russian: Районная Ассамблея; Rayonnaya Assambleya) is the non-urban Rayon assembly advisory body. It promotes Rayon policies and provides advisory support to the Rayon administration. Additionally, the Assembly approves the Rayon regulations and tax proposals.
The Head of Rayon Administration is the ex officio chairman of the Rayon Assembly.
The Assembly consists of three quotas: one third of the members is elected for 5 years by the Zemstvo Rayon Congress; one third of the members is elected by direct and secret universal suffrage through single-member constituencies; one third of the members is appointed by the Governor. The Rayon Assembly is made up of:

• 36 members in non-urban Rayons with a resident population exceeding 1,000,000 inhabitants;
• 27 members in non-urban Rayons with a resident population exceeding 200,000 inhabitants;
• 18 members in non-urban Rayons with a resident population greater than 50,000 inhabitants;
• 13 members in the remaining non-urban Rayons.

Urban District

The Urban District (Russian: Городской Район) is a Rayon which is organized around a large city, occasionally with surrounding rural territories. An Urban Distric is an administrative division ranking as a Rayon. An Urban District is often not a "city" in the usual sense of the term, but instead an administrative unit comprising, typically, a main central urban area, and its sorrounding rural area containing smaller towns and villages. In order to become an Urban District, a Rayon must have an urban centre with a non-rural population over 66% and the output of tertiary industry must supersede that of primary industry, contributing at least over 45% of the GDP.
The Urban Rayon is governed by an appointed head and the City Duma. The City Duma is elected for the two thirds by direct and secret universal suffrage and for one third consists of Governor-appointed members.

Volost

Volost (Russian: Bо́лость) is a Rayon-level rural district. Volosts are the Rayon-level unit of peasant's local self-rule and may contain only Mirs. A number of Mirs are grouped into a Volost, which has an assembly consisting of elected delegates from the Mirs. These elect an Elder (Волостной Старшина, Volostnoy Starshina) and, hitherto, a court of justice (Волостной Cуд, Volostnoy Sud) which could handle smaller civil and criminal cases. It could sentence people to fine or short-term incarceration.
The self-government of the mirs and volosts is, however, tempered by the authority of the Governor throught the Commission for the Affairs of the Peasants.

Cantons and Municipalities

Rayons are further divided into Cantons and Municipalities, governed according to two different systems. Each of the Municipalities possesses a Municipal Mayor and a Municipal Council who jointly manage the municipality from the city hall; Municipality government has varying powers, composition and procedure, according the varying size of the municipality. Apart few exceptions, Municipal Mayors are appointed by the Governor with the consent of Council, while the Municipal Council is elected. The Imperial Law makes allowances for the vast differences in Autonomous municipality size in a number of areas of administrative law.

Cantons

Rural areas are framed under the Cantons system, which have an organic democracy governance system. Rural areas are also featured by a mixed type of property: the Local Rural Communities enjoy of a communal property of land and production instruments, while ordinary villages are based on private property.
Within the territory of a Cantons there may be some small towns, called Canton Municipalities: in most cases there is one Canton Municipality in each Canton and acts as Canton official see, being little more than a large village and an informal market. Such Canton Municipalities are not autonomous from their relevant Cantons, and are governed by an individual Commissioner. Commissioners of the Canton Municipalities are in charge of nearly all affairs left to the Municipality by the Canton Executive Board. Usually, the Commissioner acts in consultation with the assembly of the Municipality inhabitants. Villages are small nucleated settlements and real villages; they are governed by a Village Head. Village Heads are in charge of local firefighting and of local legal affairs.
From a social point of view, the Canton system is based on three main social classes: gentry and independent landowners, peasants of the Mir and townsmen; the latter class provides essentially technicians and expertise (each Canton has at least a set of technical education institutes) which are necessary to both the Mir and to private proprietors, as well as limited industrial products for agriculture. Each Canton tends to be an economic unit, being capable to provide the most basic needs to the local population.

Cantonal administration

Cantons are given large powers in relation to the incidence of taxation and such questions as education, medical relief, public welfare, food supply, and road maintenance in their localities. The Cantons are however subordinated to the relevant Rayon administration, whose consent is necessary for major decisions. The chief sources of Arrondissement revenue are rates on lands, forests, country dwellings, factories, mines and other real estate.
The Canton administrative bodies consist of a Zemstvo and of a Canton Executive Board, appointed by the relevant Governor and chaired by the Canton Commissioner. More often than not, the Canton administration is an almost gentry-only affair.

Zemstvo

The Zemstvo (Russian: Земство, Zemstvo) is the basic institution of self-government of Russia. The first Zemstvo Laws went into effect in 1864 and they were the main tool through which Tsarist movement defeated Bolsheviks in the countryside. The Zemstvo is tasked with resolving local economic problems. The Zemstvo consists of five classes of members:

• Gentry and noble proprietors, who sit in person;
• Delegates of the small independent landowners outside Municipalities and Villages and not incorporated into none of them (one Delegate every 50 landowners);
• Commissioners of the Canton Municipalities (i.e. Canton Capital towns, ordinary land ownership);
• Heads of Mir (i.e. small settled centres, special land ownership);
• Heads of Villages (i.e. small settled centres, ordinary land ownership).

The Zemstvo is continued at the Rayon level, where it forms part of the Rayon Assembly, at Governorate level, where the Governorate Zemstvo forms part of the Governorate Council, and at the national level, where the All-Russian Zemstvo Congress forms part of the State Duma.

The Zemstva are given large powers in relation to the incidence of taxation and such questions as education, medical relief, public welfare, food supply, and road maintenance in their localities. The Zemstva are subordinated to the relevant head of administratin, whose consent is necessary for each decision.

Canton Executive Board

The Canton Executive Board (Russian: Исполнительный Cовет Кантона, CКИ; Ispolnitel'nyy Sovet Kantona ISK) is the executive body of the Cantonal Zemstvo. The Executive Board is elected by the relevant Zemstvo and carries out and implements decisions elaborated by the Zemstvo itself. A long-standing tradition is the hiring of professional experts from the intelligentsia in aid of the Executive Board activities.
The Canton Commissioner is appointed by the relevant Governor.

Chartered Proprierty

The Chartered Proprierty is a form of Cantonal administration. The Chartered Proprierty is characterized by being at the same time owned and governed by a Noble, called Lord Proprietor (Лорд-владелец, Lord-vladelets). The Lord Proprietor is a noble whose ancestor was granted an Imperial Charter for the establishment and government of a settlement. The land was licensed and granted to a Lord Proprietor who held expanse power. The Lord Proprietor was given the power to establish administrative courts and regulations, establish governing bodies and appoint some officials. Such powers are hereditary in the heirs of the line.
Each Chartered Proprierty has a unique system of governance reflecting the geographic challenges of the area as well as the personality of the Lord Proprietor. The Lord Proprietor typically instructs a commission or an executive what to do. Only through these instructions could regulation be made by people other than the Lord Proprietor himself.

Autonomous Municipalities

An Autonomous Municipality (Russian: Автономный Mуниципалитет, Avtonomnyy Munitsipalitet) is an urban centre which is subordinated only to the Rayon, having thus the same status of the Canton. Autonomous Municipalities governance, government and powers vary according their size, being grouped within three classes. As a general rule, all Autonomous Municipalities have some form of administrative participation through partially-elected City Duma. The appointed head of Autonomous Municipalities is the Mayor (Russian: Мэр, Mer). Autonomous Municipalities are long-time settled urban centres which serve as local hubs; typically each Autonomous Municipality serves as a hub for two or three Cantons.

Cossack Community

The Cossack Community (Russian: Казачья Oбщина; Kazach'ya Obshchina) is an area where Cossacks enjoy right to self-government in exchange for military and security service to the Russian Tsar. As a rule, a single Community coincides with a single Cossack Host; however, major Hosts may control more than one Community. For administrative purposes, Cossack Communities are usually classified as special-purpose Cantons but there are exceptions. The overwhelming majority of Cossack Communities is located in south-western Russian Empire, while some are found in Siberia.
All adult males in a Cossack Host meet at the Rada, where they elect all the important officials: the Ataman, the Delegated Judge, the Chief of Administration and the Procurator to the Clergy. The Ataman has executive powers, and in wartime is the supreme commander in the field of his own Host. Legislative power is held by the Rada.
The people and territories are subdivided into regimental and company districts, and village posts. Each Cossack Community, alone or in conjunction with neighboring settlements, forms military units. Both the settlement and the military unit it forms are headed by the Yesaul (Eсаул).
Each Community has an its own Rada which elects the relevant Yesaul, who usually ranks Regimental Yesaul (Полковой Eсаул; Polkovoy Yesaul): in military and security affairs, the Regimental Yesaul ranks as Colonel. Individual settlements elect their own Company (Сотенный Eсаул; Sotenny Yesaul) o Stanitsa Yesaul (Станичный Eсаул; Stanichny Yesaul) according their own size and capacity to raise troops. If the Cossack Community is too small to generate a whole Regiment, then the Community Chief is a Stanitsa Yesaul.

Mir

The Mir (Мир) is a form of both local government and production mood that was instituted by Alexander II. Mirs are peasant communities and villages, as opposed to individual farmsteads, holding their land in communal ownership within a community, which act at the same time as a Village government and a cooperative. Each household has the right to claim one or more strips from each section depending on the number of adults in the household. The purpose of this allocation is overall social, due to the fact that the Mir acts as a single entity. Strips are periodically re-allocated to ensure equitable share of the land. The eldest members of the household made up the community assembly in order to govern the redistribution of land. Families come together to form a community that depends on the concept of mutual help. The householders elect a Village Speaker who acts as a collector of taxes, for the repartition among individuals of the taxes imposed on the commune. Families cannot be deprived of their houses or implements necessary for agriculture; nor can the whole Mir be deprived of its land. In the Mir the land is managed by the Local Agricultural Cooperative, which operates in a comprehensive manner the land. Membership in the Cooperative is mandatory, and tax obligations are collective.

See also

• Caucasus Viceroyalty