The Constitutional Democratic Party , also called Constitutional Democrats, formally Party of People's Freedom, was a liberal political party in the Russian Empire. Party members were called Kadets (or Cadets), from the abbreviation K-D of the party name (Конституционная Демократическая партия in Russian). This name should not be confused with the term cadets, which referred to students at military schools in the Imperial Russia. Konstantin Kavelin's and Boris Chicherin's writings formed the theoretical basis of the party's platform. Historian Pavel Miliukov was the party's leader throughout its existence.