От выборности к административному контролю: реализация Степного положения 1891 г. в Тургайской области

Abstract

The article examines the implementation of the Regulation on the Administration of the Akmola, Semipalatinsk, Semirechye, Ural, and Turgay Regions of 1891 in the Turgay Region through the transformation of the volost administration institution and the electoral practices of volost rulers. The study analyzes the mechanisms for introducing the new administrative model of the Russian Empire aimed at strengthening state control over the local governance system in the Kazakh Steppe at the end of the nineteenth century. It explores the changes that followed the introduction of the Steppe Regulation of 1891, with particular attention to the procedures for electing volost rulers, the expansion of the powers of district (uezd) administrations, the strengthening of administrative supervision over elected officials, and the establishment of new mechanisms for monitoring the personnel of local government. Special emphasis is placed on the decisions adopted by the General Session of the Turgay Regional Administration following the first elections conducted under the new legislation. The article demonstrates that the initial years of implementing the Steppe Regulation were accompanied by significant organizational challenges. An analysis of the discussions held during the meetings of the regional administration identified the principal problems associated with the practical application of the new legislation, including shortcomings in electoral procedures, factional struggles within the volosts, cases of voter bribery, interference by administrative officials in the electoral process, numerous complaints regarding electoral violations, and the absence of unified administrative mechanisms for organizing elections. The study establishes that the regional authorities sought not only to eliminate these deficiencies but also to create a standardized system of governance through the introduction of unified instructions for volost rulers, the standardization of electoral documentation, the verification of candidates' criminal records, and the expansion of opportunities to appoint local officials without elections. It is concluded that the implementation of the Steppe Regulation of 1891 in the Turgay Region constituted an important stage in the institutional restructuring of local administration. Although the elective principle for volost rulers was formally preserved, the substance of the reform reflected a consistent limitation of local self-government and a strengthening of administrative control by the imperial authorities. The findings clarify the mechanisms through which the colonial administrative policy was implemented at the regional level and demonstrate how legislative changes were transformed into actual administrative practices. The results broaden current scholarly understanding of the administrative unification of the Kazakh Steppe and provide a more detailed interpretation of the functioning of imperial administrative institutions at the end of the nineteenth century.