New Top Elites for Old in Russian Politics

Abstract

Previous research on elite change in Russia, the main findings of which are summarized here, has shown that well over half of post-Soviet Russia's political elite were drawn from the late-Soviet era elite. After a caveat against loose use of the nomenklatura concept, this article focuses on a far narrower sub-group, defined as the ‘top’ political elite, comprising 135 individuals in late 1988 and ninety-eight in 1996. Many of the old top elite found lower elite roles in post-Soviet Russia and most of the new top elite came from fairly senior jobs, but hardly any passed directly from the old top elite to the new. Only a minority of the top elite in 1996 were ‘natural heirs’ to their positions while others owed them primarily to connections or to their success in the new open competitive politics. In this respect (as in others) there are substantial differences between the three components of the new top elite, namely members of the government, senior office holders in the State Duma, and leading officials of the presidential administration. The Russian top elite today remains overwhelmingly male. Far more grew up in large cities than did their Soviet-era equivalents. Non-Russians are now relatively less under-represented. All are tertiary graduates, and nearly a half have postgraduate qualifications. Members of the presidential elite are far more likely than government members to be city-born and educated in the social sciences or humanities, and they average almost a decade younger. The Duma elite lies in between in all these respects.

Terrible” Appearance of Political Center in Russia: A Historical Investigation on the Basis of Political Culture

“…"Çeçen terörizminin heyulasından korkan ve Yeltsin'in işlevsiz 'demokrasi'sinden yorgun düşen" halkın Vladimir Putin gibi Çeçenlere ve Batı'ya karşı şahin tavırlı eski bir apparatçik'i iktidara taşıması (Knight, 2000: 35-36) bu öngörüleri haklı çıkarmıştır. Dahası hemen tüm post-Sovyet ülkelerinde devletin en üst kademeleri yakın tarihe kadar, bir dönemin çevre seçkinleri olan nomenklatura'lar tarafından tutulmaktaydı (Rigby, 1999).…”

Elite networks and worldviews during the Yel'tsin years

“…Previous research on Russia's troubled transition during the 1990s also tends to focus on conflict emerging from different official positions, such as the struggle between the federal centre and localities or that between different political sectors for power (Kryshtanovskaya & White 1996;Lane 1996;Rigby 1999;Rivera 2000;Kirkow 1995). However, while such a focus has uncovered significant sources of contention, it neglects deeper reasons for the conflict.…”

“…Other elite studies have criticised the focus on the question of continuity or change of the nomenklatura because definitions of the nomenklatura often ignore divisions within Soviet and postSoviet elites. For instance, Rigby (1999) questions the reproduction argument by using Mosca's concept of a political class to reveal a considerable circulation of elites (Mosca 1939). Rivera (2000) also refines typical definitions of the Soviet elite to uncover significant sectoral and geographic differences in the origins of the post-Soviet elite.…”

The Russian Elite under Putin: Militocratic or Bourgeois?

“…Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. Rigby, 1999;Rivera, 2000). At the same time, scholars also debated whether the possession of a high-ranking political position during the Soviet period was beneficial in accumulating economic wealth in post-Communist Russia (Böröcz and Róna-Tas, 1995).…”