In the study of domestic life, Zabelin saw one of the main conditions for understanding the originality of Russian culture and statehood. According to the scientist, the history of Russia is sharply different from the history of Western Europe. According to Zabelin, the autocratic system rooted in Russia is inextricably linked with the way of life of the Russian people, and the main source of autocracy is the patriarchality inherent in the Russian people: the subjects treat the tsar as a father, and the tsar treat the subjects as children.