The Problem of the Development of Institutions of Interaction between the State and Business in the Russian Empire in the late XIX - early XX centuries

The article examines the development of the system of interaction between the state and business from the perspective of the socio-economic modernization of the Russian Empire in the late XX - early XX centuries. The source base of the research includes unpublished office documents from the funds of the Russian State Historical Archive. The mmethodological frame of the study is based on comparative and structural analysis. It is concluded that in the end XX - early XX centuries. In Russia, the institutions of representation of the entire business community were extremely poorly developed, which was largely due to resistance from conservative-minded representatives of the political leadership of the empire. At the same time, a network of non-integrated sectoral and territorial associations of entrepreneurs was being formed quite actively in the Russian Empire. At the same time, the continuing disunity of the Russian business stratum, the inconsistency of the interests of representatives of leading industries seriously limited their effectiveness. It should also be noted that the most active representative structures of entrepreneurs expressed mainly the interests of large manufacturers. At the beginning of the 20th century, after the emergence of parliamentary institutions, the possibilities of domestic business in terms of lobbying their own interests increased slightly, since the parties expressing the interests of the business community (the Cadets and the Octobrists) were either in conflict with the government, or, on the contrary, were forced to coordinate their political position with it. Thus, the system of interaction between government and business in Russia in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries did not receive an acceptable institutional formalization, could not ensure effective coordination and expression of the interests of all layers of the business community and sectors of the economy within the framework of a continuous dialogue with the state. This, in turn, made it difficult to implement the plans of the reformist wing of the Russian political elite, since the potential of business could not be fully used to modernize the country, and the existing institutional environment created prerequisites for conflict between the business community and government structures.