Government authority and the idea of public representation in 1905

The article is devoted to the development of projects for popular representation by the Russian bureaucracy and the public in 1905. Particular attention is paid to four concepts - the reform of the State Council, the convening of the Zemsky Sobor, the “bulyginskaya duma” and the parliament. The article shows that the choice that was ultimately made in favor of the State Duma meant the government’s conscious refusal of the models of representation born in the 19th century, and finally determined the transformation of the political system of the Russian Empire.