Yu. F. Samarin’s Views on Popular Representation in the Context of Slavophil and Liberal Political Thought in Russia
In the article the author analyzes the views of Yu. F. Samarin, - one of the leaders of Slavophil trend, on the popular representation, comparing his views with those of other Slavophiles and moderate Westerners on this problem, thus making up for certain deficiency in Russian political science. The article shows the evolution of Slavophiles' views on the issue of popular representation: from the appeal for organizing local self-administration without forming at that representative power at the national State level, and to the initiatives to organize the representative power that could serve as counterweight to the reforms of Alexander II, and to the subsequent idea of recreating the specific Russian historic institution - Zemsky Sobor. However, Yu. F. Samarin turned out to be the most conservative one among Slavophilism ideologists regarding the popular representation. He was almost the only one who considered Russian monarchy of the 19th century to be in full compliance with the principle of nationality while retaining solid unity with the people. Accordingly Samarin was a consistent defender of absolute autocracy and did not consider it necessary to supplement it with representative institutions.