Public authority in monarchic Russia: political and legal fundamentals as well as doctrinal interpretation

The development of the institution of public authority in Russia during the monarchical period is investigated. Public authority, as the most important feature of statehood, is viewed in a broad sense - as structures emerging in the state with formal and actual resources to issue binding instructions to an indefinite range of persons, ensure their implementation and compliance, including through coercive actions. Considering that the monarchical period in Russia lasted almost a thousand years, during which public authority was implemented through many bodies and officials, the utmost generalizations are made and attention is focused on identifying the main trends in the transformation of public authority in two aspects - in terms of political and legal foundations and scientific interpretation of the monarchy period by researchers. It is noted that in Russia from the very beginning social relations began to develop in favour of the priority of the monarch personal authority, and gradually the power of the duke of Ancient Russia by the turn of the XV-XVI centuries, when the centralized Moscow state was formed, became unlimited, autocratical. This position was retained by the Russian emperor later on. Public authority as an independent subject of scientific research began to be investigated relatively late, while at the beginning of the twentieth century, more and more scientists considered it necessary to limit the power of the monarch, but their proposals remained unanswered by the current government.