A zemstvo eating dinner
The zemstvos were elected rural assemblies that existed in the Russian Empire after being established in an 1864 decree. The zemstvos were given the power to levy local taxes, to operate schools and orphanages, to manage roads and bridges, and to promote public and animal health, and they consisted of representativs chosen by private landowners, townspeople, and peasant communes. The townspeople and landowners, although smaller in numbers than the peasants, elected more representatives than the peasants, and the peasants were still under-represented. The zemstvo system was the first attempt by Russia to create representative government.