Viceroyalty system in the Dnieper Ukraine (1780–1796): historiography of the topic

. In recent years, more attention has been paid to the exercise of state power in Ukraine. Examples are the special order of local self-government in separate regions of two Ukrainian regions, discussions about introduction of the prefect institute, etc. These factors make the study of this historical experience relevant. Viceroyalty as an administrative-territorial unit were introduced throughout the Russian Empire in the process of administrative reform of Catherine II. This reform aimed at separating the courts from the administration, the electoral status of the state bodies, some decentralization and bringing the authorities closer to the population. However, the viceroys had virtually unlimited power in all areas. The aim of the article. The article is aimed on historiographcal overview of the of the viceroyalty system.Results. The article looks at pre-revolutionary sources on relevant topics that began to appear at the end of the eighteenth century, exploring the Soviet and modern periods. The article also presents the work of foreign researchers. The greatest number of works belongs to the modern period, and it is obvious.Among these sources, special attention is paid to the works related to the functioning of various elements of the administrative reform of Catherine II in the territory of modern Ukraine. These are works related to the coverage of the processes of transformation of Ukrainian autonomy into one of the imperial peripheral territories.Сonclusions. Analysis of the historiography and characteristic of the source base shows that a considerable number of sources have been accumulated in Ukraine and abroad. At the same time, it should be noted that there is still no complex historical legal study on relevant topics, which leads to further in-depth study of the viceroyalty system, to use historical experience, in particular, in modern processes of administrative and territorial reform in Ukraine.