The establishment of ministries during the reign of Alexander the First took place in close connection with the implementation of administrative reform. There were several prerequisites for this reform. The main among them were the moral characteristics of the emperor and the people around him, the state of public and state life.
The establishment of the colleges, made before the accession to the throne of Alexander the First, did not bring order to the administrative apparatus. The system lacked the correct administrative fundamentals. The fragmentation of affairs that took place often went to extremes, introducing a constant mess into the whole system. In addition, there was no unity between different departments of management. In this regard, clashes occurred between the organs of the administrative apparatus. Moreover, the ministers and directors approved under Paul not only existed without supervision, but also, due to the lack of an institution that united their activities, were practically not held accountable. The situation was aggravated by a multitude of unnecessary formalities in the process of production of cases, which gave rise to one of the main ills of management - slowness. In these conditions, various kinds of abuse were widespread, primarily bribery. The administrative system, therefore, required major changes.
At the very beginning of the reign of Alexander the First, the first ministries were formed, as well as the Council of State. Those principles that underlie the system began to be gradually supplanted. Alexander the First sought to establish justice and justice in the state through the formation of closer relations with the administration. The establishment of ministries was supposed to be carried out according to the Western example. It should be noted that in this area, as, indeed, in others, the transformations were not immediately adopted. So, it took about ten years before the new system received a relatively stable organization.
The establishment of ministries Alexander the First carried out after repeated consultations with his entourage. At these meetings, discussions were held on projects presented by committee members. So, the projects of Novosiltsev, Kochubey, Chartorizhsky and other figures were discussed. Particular attention was paid to the proposals of Novosiltsev. In accordance with his project, the establishment of ministries and the division of the administration into eight parts was supposed. Thus, bodies of internal affairs, justice, the state treasury, finance, public education, foreign, military and naval affairs were to be formed. In addition, yielding to the sovereign in the matter of approving a special department of commerce, Novosiltsev proposed forming him as an institution that would manage customs, subordinating him to a commercial board.
It should be noted that the activist’s proposal was based on the idea of approving one ministry with dividing it into the above parts. Unity in the structure, according to Novosiltsev, could be achieved by forming a special organization of reports to the emperor. Before submitting these reports to the king, they had to be discussed in a committee of ministers together. In addition, the committee was supposed to discuss all current affairs. Cases of particular importance were to be submitted to the Council of State.
As a result of numerous meetings in 1802, on September 8, a decree was issued on the establishment of ministries. For many officials, it came as a surprise. This was mainly due to the fact that all the meetings were held secretly, with the participation of only persons particularly close to the emperor. Due to such secrecy, the new decree has gained a lot of dissatisfied responses.
The ultimate goal of establishing a new system was to eliminate colleges and introduce a ministerial principle of governance.