I am doing an assignment for speech and I found an article I will be using. This article is talking about the oral communication in Russia in the 1860s-1880s. I get what the article is talking about, so I don't need help with this assignment, but I am wondering if someone might be able to help me understand exactly what Municipal Dumas and Zemstvos are and the historical significance behind them. Generally, I understand a concept better when the etymology is explained to me, but right now I am having trouble with it despite looking them up on my own.
Both the Zemstva (plural of zemstvo) and Municipal Dumas are two types of institutions for limited local self-government that come into being because of the the Great Reforms. In a nutshell, the tsarist state felt a strong need to modernize its governmental institutions after its defeat in the Crimean War but feared that the results if it modernized too much. Therefore, the electoral systems of both these institutions were rigged to favor the local landed-aristocracy who had a clear stake in upholding the tsarist empire. The zemstva also had very little power to counteract the authority of the empire's central administrators such as the provincial governors or the local military units. The Zemstva did have enough power to improve roads, city buildings, and (most importantly as far as St. Petersburg was concerned) collect taxes. By giving some degree of local authority to zemstva and duma (which were elected city councils), the hope was they would make the Russian state more efficient and modern while preserving its traditional character.
More detailed answers about the Great Reforms are here and here