The Governor-Generalship in the Russian System of Territorial Administration: An Exercise in Historical Reminiscing

Abstract

At present, people often refer to the president's official representatives in the seven new federal districts as "governors-general" or "viceroys," and they call the districts themselves governor-generalships. Are there grounds for invoking a political institution of the Russian Empire in this way? Is there any justification for linking the political experience of the eighteenth and, in part, the nineteenth centuries to today's nominally democratic federation? To answer these questions, let us review the circumstances under which governors-general appeared in Russia and how they differed from simple governors.