Wokół genezy administracji lokalnej w Wielkim Księstwie Litewskim: uwagi i propozycje

ENThe present article goes into the problem of genesis of the local administration in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1789. It has the character of research postulates. The archival sources make it possible to present the complexity of the process of its establishment. The increased number of troops caused serious strains on the state budget and this led to a search for effective ways of implementing the current state policy. The structures of civil-military commissions of order resembled the model combining a native system of governmental authorities with some features of modern administration. In the Grand Duchy of Lithuania civil-military commissions of order were established by the decision of the Sejm in November of 1789. However, as demonstrated by the research results, a legislative initiative cannot be separated from the realities of life of local communities and traditions of regional self-government. The establishment of forage commissions and district (powiat) commissions confirms this thesis. The organizational structure of civil-military commissions resembles the model combining a native system of governmental authorities with some features of modern administration (collegiality principle, bureaucracy, specialization and remuneration).