Russian “Party of Power” and Regional Political Elite - Interests, Contradictions, Prospects

Abstract

The article deals with the genesis of the so-called «party of power» in Russia, its features. The subject of the study is the political elite of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation as the main driving force for its formation and development (on the example of the regions of the Central Black Earth Region). Its goal is to study the role of the regional ruling elite in the functioning of the “party of power” through institutional and functional approaches, within the framework of various types of analysis. It describes the main trends that arose in the party construction of Russia in the early 90s. Last century, their results. The author analyzes the state of the political elite, including the ruling elite of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the reasons for their ideological, political and economic disunity. At the same time, emphasis is placed on the evolution of the views of the ruling elites regarding political parties and movements (on the example of the regions of the Central Black Earth Region). The article considers attempts to revive the «party of power» in new socio-political relations, its various models at the regional and federal levels (the concept of the so-called «third force»), their goals, tasks and contradictions. The author describes the reasons for the resumption of interest in the above concept in the early 2000s of the new century and the formation of the Russian «party of power» of a new type. We are also considering a set of problems that contributed to the consolidation of the Russian ruling elite, including at the regional level (using the example of the Central Black Earth Region), their results. In conclusion, an assessment is made of the possible prospects for the development of regional organizations of the «party of power», their role in socio-political processes.