Citatoin: Dolgikh A. Administrative reform in Russia the middle of the XVI century as a historiographical proble

Abstract

Introduction. The article examines the situation in the existing historiography on the interpretation of the essence of the transformations in Russia under Ivan the Terrible in the middle of the XVI century, especially the administrative reforms of the highest, central and local institutions of the state, especially since in recent literature there have been significant disputes about the foreign and domestic policy of this monarch, including direct apologetics of his rule, atypical for Russian historiography in general, including in relation to this transformative subject.Materials and methods. The author of the article does not limit himself to listing controversial points in this topic and evaluating them by a number of, first of all, Soviet and modern Russian researchers, but also in some cases expresses his point of view, for example, on the issue of the abolition of feeding in that era, with which the author does not agree, regarding the extreme originality of local government reforms in in connection with the admission of elements of electability and self-government of territories, which, from his point of view, has not been sufficiently addressed in historiography.Results. The author also shows the specifics of the central state institutions (orders) that developed in that era, expresses his position with regard to the characteristics of the zemstvo councils that originate with the reforms of the so-called Izbrannaj Rada.Conclusion. As a result, the author comes to the conclusion that today in the historiography of the reforms, the general picture of the existing model of the administrative system is clearly visible - with the admission of an elective beginning at the local level and the preservation of the previous orders at the central and higher levels (albeit with some limitation of the system of parochialism). The resolution of the essence of the problem associated with the reforms of Ivan the Terrible of that time is hardly completely possible due to a very limited number of sources, but this era itself is interesting precisely because of its alternativeness in the history of the Russian political system, as an option, not carried out to the end for very specific reasons.

Keywords

• ivan the terrible
• administrative reforms
• zemstvo reform
• gubernatorial reform
• zemstvo councils
• autocracy
• serving people.