The legal mechanism for changing the individual legal status of representatives of the privileged classes in the Russian Empire in 1801-1815

Introduction. The article deals with the issues of policy environment for individual social mobility. It provides the examples of promotion of representatives of the noble and spiritual estates (including foreigners who took Russian citizenship) of the Russian Empire in the early 19th century; the role of noninstitutional factors in upward mobility is noted.

Materials and methodology. The methodological basis of the study includes the dialectical, historical, formal-legal, critical-legal methods in the framework of the civilizational approach.

Results of the research. At the beginning of the XIX century the system of vertical social mobility was modernized in the Russian Empire, primarily in relation to the representatives of the privileged classes. The legal basis of the mechanism of changing the individual legal status included the normative legal acts and the traditions of joining the service by children from nobily that had developed over the previous century. These traditions can be considered as non-institutionalized practices of advancement on the social ladder. The two main channels of social lift in Russia at that time for representatives of the privileged classes were the army and the state civil service; court service in that period lost its role as a channel of social lift.

With the help of this mechanism, representatives of the noble class, as well as individual representatives of the spiritual class, were promoted to the political elite of the country. This mechanism was designed to be applied to both “natural” Russian nationals and foreigners who chose to serve Russia as their main professional career. After 1809 the nobles of Finland received institutional opportunities for professional growth within the Russian system of public service. A successful career in the civil service was also possible for a representative of a foreign state who received Russian citizenship, but only if they had a good education and knowledge in the field of professional activity.

Discussion and conclusions. The author substantiates the importance of not only the legislative provisions, but also of the existing factors of “nonlegal” nature in the process of changing the individual legal status, as well as the role of education, which by the beginning of the considered period had become a prerequisite for joining the political elite of the country.

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