Lighting of Socio-Economic Issues in the Activities of City Government in the Pages of Pre-Revolutionary Regional Periodicals (for example, “The Kursk Provincial Gazette”)

Abstract

Introduction. City self-government bodies created in the second half of the XIX century. They occupied an important place in the life of society, as they solved the everyday problems of urban residents: paving roads, lighting, landscaping, etc. The effectiveness of the activity depended on a well-thought-out financial and personnel policy of the City Duma. The decisions of the Duma were covered in the pages of the provincial press (both official and private publications). It should be noted that in the regional press, a large place was given to news from the city authorities for two reasons: this was attributed to the regulation on publications and the interest of residents in news of this kind. The purpose of the work is to analyze information about the activities of the City Duma of the Kursk province in 1880. Materials and Methods. The solution of the set research tasks was provided by a complex of interrelated theoretical (analysis of scientific literature, comparative analysis, comparison, generalization, systematization) and empirical (study and generalization of sources, hermeneutical) methods. The results of the study. During the year under study, each issue of the newspaper published reports on the issues under consideration and decisions taken by the county city councils. The issues that were put up for discussion were important for the citizens: from the adoption of the budget to personnel changes taking into account local characteristics. Discussion and Conclusion. For example, a typical provincial edition “provincial sheets Kursk” shows the activities of fifteen County-level City councils, the issues raised for discussion, specificity of problem-solving, depending on the level of socio-economic development of the district. The analyzed material allows us to conclude that the City Councils were quite effective self-government bodies, the main problem of which was the budget deficit.