Abstract: Based on the previously unknown documents of the archival documentation and pre-revolutionary legislation, this article examines the municipal and peasant self-governance in Siberia in the XVIII century. The growing interest to the history of local self-governance is associated not only with desire of the historians to look more thoroughly into the past, but also strictly practical needs. With reference to the forgotten traditions of public administration, it is important to extensively consider the historical experience that was acquired over the centuries. Special attention is given to the structure and organizational legal questions of the work of local self-governance and its cooperation with the local administrative-police bodies. The author concludes that the bodies of municipal and peasant public administration of Siberia in the XVIII century were incorporated into the system of local branches of government. Competences of the branches of local self-governance were quite limited,  for instance, they had no authority to solve many of the economic issues without sanction of the crown administration. Their effectiveness was reduced due to the extremely undemocratic system of class representation. The main differences between public administration bodies and state government bodies consisted in the forms of their organization, character and conditions of work, subordinate to oversight of the local administrative-police bodies, which at that time, was perceived by the Siberians as the fully justified conditions of their life.

Abstract: The topic of this article is the general police in Siberia. The research subject is the reorganization of the agencies of the general police in Siberia in the post-reform period during the second half of the 19th century. The history of the pre-Revolutionary Siberian general police has not yet been the focus of scholars' close attention – only some aspects of this topic have been underlined in studies of a more general nature. Returning to the forgotten traditions of the organization and activities of the police agencies, it is important to take into full account the historical experience that had been accumulated over the centuries. It is also necessary to take a new look at already known facts and events in light of today’s realities in order to overcome the old myths and misconceptions and also to prevent the appearance of new ones. The theoretical and methodological basis of this research is made up of such principles of historical knowledge as objectivity, historicism, determinism, alternativeness and the social approach, which require an unbiased approach to the analysis of the researched problems, as well as a critical treatment of the sources. The author comes to the conclusion that the powers of the police agencies in the region had their own specificities and were much broader than in the central provinces of the Russian Empire. The reorganization of the general police in Siberia during the second half of the 19th century changed the structure and method of staffing the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It was not of a fundamental but rather of an external character. The police reform of 1867 in Siberia left almost unchanged the limits of power, the subjects of the department, the distribution of duties, the procedures, the responsibility and accountability of the general police, pending the transformation of the administrative and economic management and the judicial system. The police agencies were left with a fairly large circle of prerogatives. In addition, many policemen continued to work in the old-fashioned way, trying to ignore the changes in the current legislation. The legislator had failed, as local leaders and visiting auditors admitted, to place the uyezd's internal affairs agencies within the strict framework of the law.

Abstract: Based on pre-Revolutionary legislation and previously unknown documents from state archives, the article comprehensively examines the specifics of local government in Siberia in the beginning of the 19th century. The subject of this research are the changes in the system of the governorate and general-governorate administrations of the region. The growing interesting in the history of local government is tied not only to the aim of scientists to have a more profound look into the past, but also driven by strictly practical needs. Turning to the forgotten traditions of local government, it is important to consider more cohesively the historical experience that was accumulated for centuries. Considering modern realities, it is also essential to have a new look on the already known facts and events in order to overcome old myths and fallacies and prevent the appearance of new ones. The theoretical-methodological base of this study consists of the principles of historical cognition: objectivity, historicism, determinism, alternativity and the social approach that presume an objective approach to the analysis of the examined topic, as well as a critical treatment of sources. Upon writing this article, the author made a reassessment of some well-known and established historical phenomena, introduced into scientific circulation new archival material and normative-legislative acts earlier unknown to a wide circle of scientists. The author comes to the conclusion that the power of the administrative-police bodies in the region had their specifics and were to a significant degree more broad than in the central governorates of the Russian Empire. The article pays special attention to the attempts to reorganize regional local governments. The author examines in detail such aspects of the topic as the aim of the Supreme Power to place under their control the almost independent power of the governors and general-governors without introducing a social element into the system of governing. The «Institutions for governance of the provinces» of 1775 was extended to the region without taking into account the huge Siberian distances, the presence of only a small number of people capable of carrying out the administrative powers, and the small population of the province. The «Institutions» of 1775 also did not consider the stratification of the confessional and multi-ethnic composition of the Siberian population, extending European principles on native peoples of the region of Siberia. The socio-economic development of the region and the growth of colonization at the beginning of the 19th century caused the necessity of a more flexible organization of the local administration.