Ariskina Y.E. Law, legality and constitution as the  ideological basis of the Private  committee’s policy

Abstract: The article examines the ideological basis of the Private committee’s activity – the circle of “young friends” of Alexander I that developed the main internal political changes at the beginning of the 19th century. The concepts of law, legality and constitution stated in the article’s title were fundamental notions in the discussion and elaboration of a series of reforms. The principal aim of this article is to elucidate the understanding of these concepts by committee members and the emperor at the beginning of his reign. The main source for this study is the material from the archive of P. A. Stroganov, the so-called protocols of the Private committee. At the beginning of his reign, Alexander I and his entourage aimed to establish a constitution as the final outcome of their work – an unchangeable law (or codex of laws), which would allow to systematise and define the administrative system, to validate and strengthen the emperor’s authority, to finalise the process of the classes’ rights legalisation. However, apart from asserting the emperor’s authority, there existed the idea of the power of law, which would restrain despotism and abuse of the monarch, should it become necessary.

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