The Idea of the Constitution in the Projects of State Reforms of the Russian Emperor Alexander I

The article is devoted to the attempts of Emperor Alexander I to introduce the Constitution and representative institutions in Russia. The idea of the Constitution was the basic idea of the state reforms of Emperor Alexander I. It followed from the main conception of these reforms and was to become their ultimate goal. During his nearly twenty-five-year reign, Alexander I at least three times started creation a draft Constitution for the Russian Empire with the intention to put it into effect, but did not dare to do so. The author shows that these attempts were not a "game of reform", but expressed the Emperor's real intention to introduce constitutional rule in Russia. And the refusal of its implementation had serious grounds. The most significant reason for the preservation of the autocratic system in Russia was the need for fundamental state reforms, the most urgent of which were: the abolition of serfdom, the systematization of legislation, the creation of a new court, the formation of a new system of local government. The autocratic power of the Emperor, which assumed disconnectedness of his personality by representative institutions and laws, the independence of his personality from different social groups, etc. allowed him to serve as an effective instrument of reform, meet the interests of the Russian state, and it is relatively easy to overcome resistance to these reforms from powerful social groups.