42 "CONSTITUTIONALISM"
between the government and the individual subject on the rule of
law. 1 The issues of popular sovereignty, "no taxation without
representation", the doctrine of separation and balance of powers were
of no direct concern to the Autocrat of All the Russias and his chosen
advisors. And while they spoke in terms of the concepts that had
gained popularity and currency in the latter part of the 18th century,
they applied them to a different situation and gave them a different
twist from that in Western Europe or America. The most striking
instance of this change was their use of the idea of separation of
powers. Montesquieu and other 18th century writers, following
Aristotle, and on the basis of their interpretation of the English
"constitution", had maintained that the executive, legislative and
judiciary had to be kept separate in terms of personnel, authority,
jurisdiction, so that none of them could monopolize all the political
power in the state. But while using the same terms, the Unofficial
Committee and Alex.ander meant only the mechanical division of
functions of government for the sake of more efficient and orderly
administration.
The primordial concern for order and clarity in the administrative
machinery becomes quite evident when we read Count Stroganov's
notes of the meetings of the Unofficial Committee and the various
proposals for reform discussed there. This excessive stress on clarity
and mechanistic harmony of the administration was far greater than
the objective situation of the Russian government demanded; after all,
the Senatorial party also aimed at improving the administration and
1 The analysis of Alexander's "constitutionalism" has been arrived at on the
basis of the sum total of my readings of the sources and secondary studies of the
period - the most important of which are listed in the bibliography for this
chapter. Although some of the conclusions I arrive at have been formulated by
historians earlier, they have not - to my knowledge - been brought together in
quite the same way to characterize Alexander's political attitude. In all fairness to
Alexander and his advisers, it must be said that they were sincerely convinced
that orderly government, based on the rule of law, would contribute to a betterment
of the moral, social, and economic conditions of the Russian people. Freiherr yom
Stein, who in many respects shared a similar - though more liberal and "humanistic"
outlook - remarked quite correctly: "Der Hauptzug in seinem [Alexander's]
Charakter ist Gutmiitigkeit, Freundlichkeit und ein Wunsch, die Menschen zu
begliicken und veredeln... Die ganze Geschaftsfiihrung Alexanders beweist seinen
lebhaften Wunsch die Menschen zu begliicken. Er begann mit Unterrichtsanstalten,
Verbesserungen des Zustandes des Landmannes; er wollte Ordnung, Statigkeit,
Weisheit in die Geschaftsbehandlungen bringen, sich gegen Dberraschungen zu
schiHzen ... ," Freiherr vom Stein, Briefwechsel, Denkschriften und Aufzeichnungen
(bearbeitet von Erich Botzenhart, Berlin 1931-37), vol. IV (Tagebuchaufzeichnungen
14.VI.l812-23.IX.1812), pp. lOS (l.VlI.1812), 112 (6.VlI.1812). Czartoryski confirms
this impression: "Cependant, tout ce qui touchait it des idees pratiques, Ii la justice,
11 l'emancipation des masses, Ii des reformes equitables Ii des institutions liberales, il
ne cessait d'y penser et de s'en occuper: c'etait son delassement intime." Mtimoires
du prince Adam Czartoryski, I, p. 266.