Annotation

The article presents the results of an analysis of the issue of the legal nature of zemstvo self-government and the relationship between the powers of self-government bodies and the state's authority, which was actively discussed in legal science during the second half of the 19th century. The author concludes that despite the impossibility of accurately defining self-government and its place in the political system of the Russian Empire during the 19th century, the task of legal qualification of the power nature of this institution was posed at this time. This allows us to conclude that the legal science of the second half of the 19th century laid the scientific foundation for local self-government, which was practically implemented in the constitutional system of modern Russia.