On the publication of Volume II of the “History of Civil Service in Russia (X - beginning of the XXI century)”

Abstract

The article represents the author’s writing concerning a large research project "Historyof Civil Service in Russia"comprised of the period from the X century to the present day,published by the «Delo» Publishing House of the Russian Presidential Academyof National Economyand PublicAdministration (RANEPA).Studying the history of public service is a significant part of the research on the public administration system in our country. Modern achievements and concerns, accomplishments, and deficiencies of public administration are mainly determined by the history of its development and formation. The generic quote "We all came out of Gogol’s "The Overcoat"is widely used in evaluating Russian classical literature and,to a certain extent,is also applicable to analyzing the history of the Russian state administration.In the given context,this concerns the overcoat’s owners -civil servants,and their role in the state’s history.The authors of the four-volume studyshow how public servants, next to military and cultural figures, entrepreneurs and workers, scientists, and peasants, have contributed to the country’s greatness over the centuries.The authors of the books identified four periods in the history of the formation of the Russian civil service; a description of each of these periods requires a separate volume.The article discusses the second volume in two parts,which was published first,presenting the history of public service of the Russian state in the XVIII -earlyXX centuries.