Социальная мобильность и конкурс «Лидеры России»

Abstract

Introduction: the collapse of the Soviet Union had a destructive effect on social mobility: the boundaries of social classes were blurred, and new social elevators were not created. This problem was particularly acute for the upper ruling class, which was left without working tools for personnel search and training, and for the society having lack of understanding of the selection and promotion to the top principles. Since the 2000s, the government has been actively working to institutionalize new mobility channels. However, their closed and non-transparent nature did not fully address the problems. Awareness of these limitations brought to life a new mechanism of social mobility – “The Leaders of Russia” competition. Objectives: to assess the role of “The Leaders of Russia” competition as a channel for vertical social mobility. We presume to address the question: is “The Leaders of Russia” an effective social elevator or is it primarily aimed at creating an image of equal and open opportunities that legitimizes political career advancement? Methods: a sociological biographical analysis of information on 313 winners of the competition (2017–2020). Results: the research covered the data on the further career advancement of competition winners; the competition’s role in expanding the social recruitment pool of the political elite, rejuvenating it, and overcoming gender asymmetry. Conclusions: “The Leaders of Russia” competition acts as a significant social elevator in contemporary Russian society and provides processes of vertical social mobility. But it should be noted that this does not apply to all the competition winners, as many of them do not get political appointments and career development. At the same time, winning the competition provides upward social movements for representatives of large state corporations or people already in public service who are possibly enjoying the different kind of support or driving forces that are not obvious. These factors may indicate the nominal openness of the competition and the leading role of its PR function.