Peter the Great's Collegial Reform: Swedish Antecedents and the Process of Reception

The last decade of Peter the Great's forty-three-year reign (1682-1725) was marked by a series of attempts to introduce fundamental reforms in Russian public administration. The old administrative system, hampered by extreme fragmentation, was dismantled to be replaced by a rational and unitary administration characterized by a systematic, institutionalized division of responsibilities and an internal division of labor based on a standardized procedure. These administrative reforms undertaken to centralize power were an expression of the monarchy's absolutist effort to completely unify political and military power. Administration in general and fiscal administration in particular were given a much more important role than they previously had in Russia. State policies of taxation and administration derived theoretical support from mercantilism and cameralism. In order to meet rising government expenditures, it was necessary to mobilize all of the state's potential economic resources by means of stringent taxation and regulation. According to the Cameralists, uniform and regular fiscal management was of paramount importance for efficient fiscal policy. This excerpt explores the preparation for collegial reform in Russia, gathers information on the Swedish administrative system, on the process of setting up collegia in Saint Petersburg, and on the instructions for their administration. The main thesis is that these Russian administrative reforms were less the result of Western intellectual influence than they were due to socio-economic and political changes in Russia.