Havrylko S. Legal Bases of Organization and Activity of Representative Authorities in the Western Ukrainian Lands (date XVIII – early XX centuries).

The implementation of Austrian law in the western Ukrainian lands took place in three stages: 1) the end of the eighteenth century – 1848; 2) 1848–1860; 3) 1860–1914. During the first stage, a new system of government and self-government was introduced, including the convening of state sejms. The general feature of the introduction of the Austrian system of law in the western Ukrainian lands was asymmetry – autonomy in Galicia and Bukovyna and centralization in Transcarpathia. Ukrainians generally positively perceived the Austrian system of law, which tolerated the development of national movements. It is proved that the structure of the authorities in Galicia, Bukovina and Transcarpathia took into account the peculiarities of regional autonomy and was a strict centralized hierarchical model of governance, which underwent changes only in the 1860s in the context of the introduction of the constitutional system. In characterizing the electoral legislation, we have identified five stages during which its transformation took place. Each of these stages had its own peculiarities due to the need to balance the interests of social and national groups, as well as the desire to maintain political stability. The introduction of direct elections to the imperial parliament in 1873 and the lowering of the electoral qualification in 1882 reflected the government's intention to expand the circle of voters and make the electoral process more transparent. The electoral reform of 1907, which introduced the principle of “one person, one vote,” was revolutionary for its time. The author emphasizes that the representative bodies in Galicia and Bukovyna, unlike Transcarpathia, had certain autonomous rights, enshrined in particular in the “October Diploma” of 1860, the “February Patent” of 1861, the Provincial Statute for Galicia of 1861, and the Constitution of 1867. The involvement of the Ukrainian population in the activities of representative bodies of power in Austria-Hungary was limited and uneven, but had an important impact on the development of the national movement and political culture. At the same time, it has been established that it was the Sejm and parliamentary activities that gave rise to the formation of the Ukrainian political elite, whose representatives later played a significant role in the formation of the independent Ukrainian state. It is stated that representative democracy is an important bridge between the Ukrainian legal tradition and European democratic values, emphasizing the commonality of historical and contemporary aspirations for freedom and self-government.