Editing Russian Empire
From Roach Busters
Warning: You are not logged in.
Your IP address will be recorded in this page's edit history.
The edit can be undone.
Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
| Current revision | Your text | ||
| Line 265: | Line 265: | ||
Peter the Great changed his title from Tsar in 1721, when he was declared Emperor of all Russia. While subsequent rulers kept this title, the ruler of Russia is commonly known as ''Tsar'' or ''Tsaritsa'' in other countries. | Peter the Great changed his title from Tsar in 1721, when he was declared Emperor of all Russia. While subsequent rulers kept this title, the ruler of Russia is commonly known as ''Tsar'' or ''Tsaritsa'' in other countries. | ||
| - | The power of | + | The power of Emperor is limited by only two liabilities: he and his consort must belong to the Russian Orthodox Church; and he must obey the laws of succession, as established by Paul I. Otherwise, his power is virtually unlimited. |
===The legislature=== | ===The legislature=== | ||
| - | The legislature of the Russian Empire comprises the | + | The legislature of the Russian Empire comprises the Imperial Council (upper house) and the Imperial Duma (lower house). Neither body wields much power, and their purpose is to essentially rubberstamp the Emperor's decisions (even though he could, and often does, choose to rule by decree if he wished) while providing an illusory façade of representative government. The legislature rarely if ever initiates legislation, and the Emperor enjoys the right to veto any legislation he chooses to, and his veto cannot be overriden. He also has the power to dissolve either or both houses if he wishes, whenever he wants to, and is not required to explain or justify it. |
| - | ==== | + | ====Imperial Council==== |
| - | By the law of the 20 February 1906, the | + | By the law of the 20 February 1906, the Council of the Empire was associated with the Duma as a legislative Upper House; and from this time the legislative power has been exercised normally by the emperor only in concert with the two chambers. |
| - | The | + | The Council of the Empire, or Imperial Council, as reconstituted for this purpose, consists of 196 members, of whom 98 are nominated by the emperor, while 98 are elective. The ministers, also nominated, are ex officio members. Of the elected members, 3 are returned by the "black" clergy (the monks), 3 by the "white" clergy (seculars), 18 by the corporations of nobles, 6 by the academy of sciences and the universities, 6 by the chambers of commerce, 6 by the industrial councils, 34 by the governments having zemstvos, 16 by those having no zemstvos, and 6 by Poland. As a legislative body the powers of the Council are coordinate with those of the Duma; in practice, however, it has seldom if ever initiated legislation. |
| - | ====The | + | ====The Duma and electoral system==== |
| - | The | + | The Duma of the Empire or Imperial Duma (''Gosudarstvennaya Duma''), which forms the Lower House of the Russian parliament, consists of 442 members, elected by an exceedingly complicated process. The membership is manipulated as to secure an overwhelming majority of the wealthy (especially the landed classes). Each province of the empire returns a certain number of members; added to these are those returned by several large cities. The members of the Duma are chosen by electoral colleges and these, in turn, are elected in assemblies of the three classes: landed proprietors, citizens, and peasants. In these assemblies the wealthiest proprietors sit in person whilst the lesser proprietors are represented by delegates. The urban population is divided into two categories according to taxable wealth, and elects delegates directly to the college of the Governorates. The peasants are represented by delegates selected by the regional subdivisions called ''volosts''. Workmen are treated in special manner with every industrial concern employing fifty hands or over electing one or more delegates to the electoral college. |
| - | In the college itself the voting for the Duma is by secret ballot and a simple majority carries the day. Since the majority consists of conservative elements (the landowners and urban delegates), the progressives have little chance of representation at all save for the curious provision that one member at least in each government is to be chosen from each of the five classes represented in the college. | + | In the college itself the voting for the Duma is by secret ballot and a simple majority carries the day. Since the majority consists of conservative elements (the landowners and urban delegates), the progressives have little chance of representation at all save for the curious provision that one member at least in each government is to be chosen from each of the five classes represented in the college. As political parties are proscribed in Russia, candidates are voted for individually, rather than as members of whatever party they would otherwise belong to. |
| - | + | ||
| - | + | ||
===Council of Ministers=== | ===Council of Ministers=== | ||
| Line 315: | Line 313: | ||
===Senate=== | ===Senate=== | ||
| - | The Senate (''Pravitelstvuyushchi Senat'', i.e. directing or governing senate), originally established during the government reform of Peter I, consists of members appointed by the Emperor. Its wide variety of functions are carried out by the different departments into which it is divided. It is the supreme court of cassation; an audit office, a high court of justice for all political offences; one of its departments fulfills the functions of a heralds' college. It also has supreme jurisdiction in all disputes arising out of the administration of the Empire, notably differences between representatives of the central power and the elected organs of local self-government. Lastly, it promulgates new laws, a function which theoretically gives it a power akin to that of the Supreme Court of the United States, of rejecting measures not in accordance with fundamental laws. | + | The Senate (''Pravitelstvuyushchi Senat'', i.e. directing or governing senate), originally established during the government reform of Peter I, consists of members appointed by the Emperor. Its wide variety of functions are carried out by the different departments into which it is divided. It is the supreme court of cassation; an audit office, a high court of justice for all political offences; one of its departments fulfills the functions of a heralds' college. It also has supreme jurisdiction in all disputes arising out of the administration of the Empire, notably differences between representatives of the central power and the elected organs of local self-government. Lastly, it promulgates new laws, a function which theoretically gives it a power akin to that of the Supreme Court of the United States, of rejecting measures not in accordance with fundamental laws. All its members are fully subordinate to, and serve at the pleasure of, the Emperor, who may annul any decision made by the Senate, remove any member at any time, or even dissolve the body altogether, if he so chooses. |
The Senate is chaired by the Ober-Procurator (formerly known as the General Procurator), who serves as the link between the Emperor and the Senate and acts, in the emperor's own words, as "the sovereign's eye". | The Senate is chaired by the Ober-Procurator (formerly known as the General Procurator), who serves as the link between the Emperor and the Senate and acts, in the emperor's own words, as "the sovereign's eye". | ||
