Adoption of state decisions during the reign of Emperor Alexander II according to the “Note on the terms of military service” of Prince A.A. Shcherbatov)

Abstract

The subject of the research is the process of developing government decisions in Russia in the 1870s, based on the case of the development of the Charter on military service. The objectives of this article include identifying an algorithm for discussing a proposed government decision and indicating the characteristic features of the chosen method of solving issues of state importance. The basic method in solving these problems is the textual analysis of the document, conventionally designated by the publishers as “A.A. Shcherbatov on the issues of the terms of military service”. The result was the definition of four phases in the process of preparing and making government decisions. Each phase has a specific load. For the first phase — the formation of ideas of army professionals about the needs of the troops, in the transition to a new principle of their formation. For the second phase — the approbation of these ideas in society and the correction of the outlined plans. For the third phase — clarification of the developed provisions in polemics with representatives of “interest groups” that developed at that time in the management elite. For the fourth phase — the consolidation of the reform elements formed during the discussion process at the state level.