Бюрократия versus бюрократия: Парадоксы государственной службы в России в конце XIX – начале XX веков

Новое литературное обозрение. 2017. № 2 (144). С. 113–121.

Solovyov K.

The article is devoted to the Russian bureaucrat’s vision of the bureaucratic empire that actually they represented in the Russian empire. On the eve of the XXth century the state service recruited the best and the most ambitious students who had different points of view – and at the same time the high qualification. It seemed that most of them were apolitical and quite indifferent to any ideology. However, at the same time they were part of the Russian society. They had the same social experience, they read the same newspapers and they shared the same views as the representatives of “intelligentsia” (mostly liberal opposition).

In the stable situation this bureaucrats were more or less betrayed to the throne. At the time of the choice of the First Russian Revolution, their decision was unpredictable. But the main problem was that the bureaucrats were against bureaucrats – in other words the bureaucratic system of Russian Empire. They were sure in it’s inefficiency and demanded the changes. This bureaucracy was quite skillful and well prepared for the administration. At the same time it was an Achilles heel of political regime in Russia. They did not associate themselves with the power though they exercised the real power everyday. Many of the bureaucrats (not all, of course) did their best to change regime though they were it’s offspring.

Keywords: политическая система, бюрократия, bureaucracy, political system, autocracy, самодержавие