Local Government Reform 1864

• An imperial decree in 1864 established a series of local government assemblies at the district and provincial levels known as the zemstva.
• Zemstva were to be elected by the local population but the system of voting through electoral colleges gave more weight to the votes of the nobility.
• The electoral college was divided to make sure that noble dominance continued.
• The zemstva were given powers over education, health, transport and relief to the poor.
• The chairman of a zemstvo had to come from a noble family.
• The zemstva had no control over state or local taxation.
• Control of law and order and the police remained outside of the control of the zemstva and in the hands of the Provincial Governor who was appointed by the Tsar.
• Similar urban assemblies known as dumas were established in 1870.
• The liberal advisers hoped the zemstva would be the start of some real change and the beginning of genuine democracy in Russia.

  Many liberals now saw the possibilities for reforming Russia.
• The zemstva often became a place where the educated classes debated political issues and even criticised the government.
• Alexander II saw the zemstva as an important way to maintain autocracy.
• When representatives of the zemstva approached Alexander II and suggested that delegates from each province should meet in a national assembly, he dismissed them and restated the limitations on their powers and the power he held.