Russian Elite Research Articles

К ВОПРОСУ ОБ ОТСУТСТВИИ В РОССИИ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННОЙ ИДЕОЛОГИИ

Introduction: the article deals with the constitutional formula officially denying the presence of state ideology in Russia. Purpose: to investigate the issue of the absence of state ideology in Russia de jure and de facto; to identify the typology of modern Russian society, state, and law, the reasons for the absence of their essential characteristics in the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Methodology: the research is based on the fundamental principles of scientific philosophy – the principle of objectivity, the principle of development (historicism), the principle of universal interconnection, the principle of determinism, the principle of inconsistency, as well as general scientific methods of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction. Results: the Constitution of the Russian Federation was adopted in the context of a deep socio-economic and political crisis and a split of the Russian political elite into irreconcilable groups that offered different ways of getting the country out of the crisis and different historical prospects for Russia. The new liberal elite, having defeated its political opponents in political and armed conflict, organized drafting and adoption of the Constitution of the Russian Federation in a short time in order to give legitimacy to the reforms planned. The liberal elite avoided ideologically and politically loaded vocabulary in their public speeches not to scare off the population when adopting the Constitution and carrying out reforms which were to result in the radical change of the type of society, state, and law. The same approach was used when developing the Constitution. The basic law of the country was created and adopted after the Cold War, when Russia found itself on the periphery of the world history and turned into an object of global neoliberal capital policy. The above factors determined the character, the design, and the contents of the Constitution of the Russian Federation. Conclusions: the Constitution was adopted in specific socio-economic and political conditions. It helped to avoid a disastrous civil war and to carry out economic and social reforms corresponding to the interests of the new elite of Russia and their western curators. As a result of the reforms, Russia was introduced into the economic, political, and cultural space of the global neoliberal capitalism managed from Washington. The country has actually lost its sovereignty and subjectivity. Modern Russia, unlike the Russia of the 90s, has ceased to be exclusively an object of global neoliberal capital. As a great power, Russia is bound to have its own state ideology that would express its national interests, fundamental needs, meaningful values, and a geopolitical strategy that would determine its historical prospects.

ПЕРВЫЕ УРОКИ ОСТЗЕЕ: РЕЦЕПЦИЯ АДМИНИСТРАТИВНЫХ ПРАКТИК ПРИБАЛТИЙСКИХ ПРОВИНЦИЙ ПРИ ПЕТРЕ ВЕЛИКОМ

The article explores the transfer of foreign borrowings into the Russian public administration system in the 1700s — first half of 1710s. The author argues that the transformations of the state apparatus before 1713 were not of qualitative nature, they resulted from the evolutionary development of the traditional Russian management model, stimulated by the need to provide resources for the warring and reforming army. All innovations in administration were limited to borrowing a foreign administrative vocabulary, the meaning of which was determined by Tsar Peter and his entourage’s desire to be “recognizable” in a Western cultural environment. As the Baltic provinces of Sweden were conquered, the Russian elite received, along with the territories, a highly developed and extensive system of local government, created by a German-dominated minority. It became Peter’s first practical example of a “well-ordered state” and suggested the necessity of reforming the country’s local crown government through the “transplantation” of Baltic institutions. The Landrat reform of 1713–1715 embodied this idea. Its failure, which showed the impossibility of mechanical reception of foreign administrative institutions, did not dissuade the Russian monarch in the correctness of the chosen course, but taught a number of lessons in the field of state building. It was after the unsuccessful Landrat reform that Peter set about preparing a large-scale reform of the state apparatus based on a systematic study of Western experience and the creation of mechanisms for adapting it to Russian reality.

Актуальность геополитических интуиций Вадима Цымбурского

This article is the polemical response to the report of Yu.D. Granin “Island of Russia” by Vadim Tsymbursky and the geopolitical project of Greater Eurasia” within the frame­work of the round table “Problems of civilizations in the books of the Institute of Philo­sophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences”. The purpose of the work is to indicate the po­sitions of the author of the concept “Islands of Russia” in relation to a few modern geopol­itical problems. The tasks set in the text can be defined as 1) to understand what Tsym­bursky meant by “Russian civilization”; 2) to distinct between “Russia as Eurasia” and “Greater Eurasia” in his concept; 3) to reflect the methodological relationship between the historical and projective components of his concept; 4) to identify the prospects for the development of local Russian civilization, as Tsymbursky understood them. The ba­sis for hermeneutic analysis was the texts of Vadim Tsymbursky, devoted the concept of the “Island of Russia” and the problem of sovereignty. Conclusions: 1) the Russian ethno-cultural component is of decisive importance for Russian civilization; 2) the devel­opment of the “Island of Russia” is more significant than continental integration with other local civilizational centers; 3) the historical methodology and constructivism in local civi­lizational studies are complementarity; 4) the value consolidation of the Russian elite and ordinary citizens is a priority purpose for the existence of the Russian “island”.

Евромайдан: криминолого-правовой анализ

Introduction. The article highlights the events related to the consequences of the nazification of Ukraine, the central link of which was the Euromaidan. The purpose is a criminological and legal analysis of the current situation in the sphere of Russian-Ukrainian relations and the establishment of imperatives to respond to it. The methodology of criminological and legal analysis is based on dialectical, historical, sociological and logical methods. Results. The article is based on the materials of an on-line survey of 286 respondents conducted in March 2022 in Omsk and St. Petersburg. The article discusses the consequences of choosing Ukraine in favor of European integration; the flight of the Russian elite after the start of a special Russian operation, the problem of collaboration and measures to counter it. The issues of manipulation of consciousness and Russophobia, the policy of anti-Russian sanctions and its effectiveness are considered. Conclusion. Euromaidan is a civilizational choice of Ukraine, criminal for its political leadership and the Nazis, tragic for the population. Not only Ukrainians, but also many citizens of Russia do not understand this. The imperatives of the current situation are the conduct of educational work among young people, the adoption of legal measures against collaborators. Itis strategically important to ensure the full-scale inclusion of patriotic resources in the system of domestic propaganda, which in many respects remains focused on Western attitudes.

Возрастные особенности телосложения спортсменок, специализирующихся в синхронном плавании

Material and methods. The sample of 50 people consisted of female athletes of three age groups: junior (9-10 years old), senior (14-15 years old) and the Russian national team (over 18 years old). In this cross-sectional study, we used total body dimensions (according to V.V. Bunak), body mass components (ac-cording to J. Matiegka’s formulas and bioimpedance method), body proportions (according to P.N. Bashkirov’s method), body shape (by somatoscopy), somatotype (by the Heath-Carter and Shtefko-Ostrovsky) and biological age (by dental and sexual maturity). Results. In terms of physical development, artistic swimmers (girls) do not differ significantly from their peers who do not go in for sports. The body height of the national team athletes is higher than the average values for their gender, and the body weight is lower. Under the influence of training loads in young artistic swimmers, there is a slight decrease in the fat component and an increase in the muscle one. Russian elite artistic swimmers have a lower level of development of adipositythan athletes of the national teams of Ko-rea and Spain. The muscular component of the Russian artistic swimmers may indicate overwork. The analy-sis of the variability of body proportions of artistic swimmers of different age groups testifies to the target-ed selection to the national team in the terms of longitudinal body dimensions. At the present stage of development of artistic swimming, the selection of retardant athletes is taking place. It was revealed that somatotypes with significant mesomorphism prevail in younger and older age groups, while the athletes of the national team belong to the ectomorphic body type with various variations of two other components of the somatotype. Conclusion. The study of morphological indicators made it possible to form an idea of the importance of the somatotype and body proportions for artistic swimming, which, in the combination with other necessary qualities, will increase the efficiency of selection and control of the training process.

Sensory landscape of the Russian empire in “The Letters from Russia” (1856–1857) by Juan Valera

The article considers new perspectives in working with travel notes as a historical source. Through the careful reading of “The Letters from Russia” (1856-1857) by Spanish diplomat and writer Juan Valera (1824-1905), the article examines the role of sensory impressions and their place in constructing Russia’s image. Particular attention focuses on the analysis of methods and approaches of sensory history. By applying content analysis, it was possible to identify four topics addressed by the Spanish diplomat: colours, tastes, sounds, and smells. Thanks to the interdisciplinary approach, we reconstructed the author’s percep- tion of Russia’s visual and sound landscape, his attitude to the Russian elite’s and the ordinary people’s tastes (food and drinks), the smells that he encountered during the trip. For example, the Russian empire seemed to the Spanish author brilliant, golden and silver, and its sound perception was characterized by the loud sound of local bells and melodic singing of church choirs. At the same time, a Spanish diplomat was openly disappointed with the common people’s food and its smell, and the Russian countryside, in general, seems colourless to him. The Spaniard’s idea of Russia was established under the influence of his native environment and by the St. Petersburg elite. Given the fact that the author spent most of his time in the company of the Russian elite, he managed to recreate Russia’s holistic sensual landscape only in the context of its sounds and smells. In the case of Russian food and colours, readers can observe an unfinished image that only partially reproduces the author’s vision of “folk” and “parade” Russia. For example, due to the author’s limited mobility, the text contains almost no information about the color palette of a Russian city or village. Despite this, the study of these phenomena not only revealed the basic features of the then Russian everyday life but also allowed a better understanding of the personality of Juan Valera and the way of forming his ideas.

Ідентичність українців та росіян та погляд на сусіда

The aim of the article is to study the problem of relations between Ukraine and the Russian Federation after the proclamation of Ukraine's independence. The authors focus on the process of identity formation in the newly created states and on how identity has influenced the perception of the neighboring people in Ukraine and Russia. The research methodology is based on a combination of general scientific and special-historical methods with the principles of objectivity, historicism, systematicity, scientificity and verification. The scientific novelty of the work is that, using the achievements of both domestic and foreign scholars and the achievements of sociological science, the authors offer their own view on the problem of interstate relations, analyzing them in terms of forming a view of the neighboring state through the prism of national identity. Conclusions. Ukraine and the Russian Federation had different views on the common historical legacy of being in the Soviet state. If for Ukraine the Soviet experience was full of problems related to the planting of the Soviet identity, which, in turn, ignored the needs of the national Ukrainian identity, or openly instrumentalized the Ukrainian national identity for the needs of the state. Therefore, having started the process of state building, the greatest successes in Ukraine were achieved by those politicians who focused on the civic Ukrainian identity. The process of «nationalization» in Ukraine has been ambiguously perceived in different regions. Russia was characterized by considerable sentiment after the Soviet era, which was based on the idea of the greatness of the Soviet state, which to some extent reflected the desire of Russian elites and society to restore this greatness. In this context, Ukrainian independence was perceived as an extremely hostile phenomenon for Russia. Warming up the imperial and nationalist sentiments of Russian society, the Russian government successfully created an image of Ukrainian statehood as a dangerous phenomenon and used this image in the annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of war against Ukraine in Donbas.

Genomic predictors of testosterone levels are associated with muscle fiber size and strength

PurposeCirculating testosterone levels are a heritable trait with anabolic properties in various tissues, including skeletal muscle. So far, hundreds of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with testosterone levels have been identified in nonathletic populations. The aim of the present study was to test the association of 822 testosterone-increasing SNPs with muscle-related traits (muscle fiber size, fat-free mass and handgrip strength) and to validate the identified SNPs in independent cohorts of strength and power athletes.MethodsOne hundred and forty-eight physically active individuals (47 females, 101 males) were assessed for cross-sectional area (CSA) of fast-twitch muscle fibers. Significant SNPs were further assessed for fat-free mass and handgrip strength in > 354,000 participants from the UK Biobank cohort. The validation cohorts included Russian elite athletes.ResultsFrom an initial panel of 822 SNPs, we identified five testosterone-increasing alleles (DOCK3 rs77031559 G, ESR1 rs190930099 G, GLIS3 rs34706136 TG, GRAMD1B rs850294 T, TRAIP rs62260729 C) nominally associated (P < 0.05) with CSA of fast-twitch muscle fibers, fat-free mass and handgrip strength. Based on these five SNPs, the number of testosterone-increasing alleles was positively associated with testosterone levels in male athletes (P = 0.048) and greater strength performance in weightlifters (P = 0.017). Moreover, the proportion of participants with ≥ 2 testosterone-increasing alleles was higher in power athletes compared to controls (68.9 vs. 55.6%; P = 0.012).ConclusionTestosterone-related SNPs are associated with muscle fiber size, fat-free mass and strength, which combined can partially contribute to a greater predisposition to strength/power sports.

Crimea

The author examines the role of Crimea in the Russian state, beginning with a justification of the legality of the region's annexation as both a reflection of the historical connection between Crimea and Russia and the result of the illegitimacy of the post-coup government in Ukraine. He then turns to the potential role of the integration of Crimea as a national project that could revive Russia while allowing its leaders to root out traitors and other undesirables from among the Russian elites.

Двуязычная природа русского литературного языка в научной полемике и словесной культуре XVIII века

The bilingual nature of the Russian literary language and its reflection in the scientific polemics and literary practice of the XVIII century are considered. Special attention is paid to the complexity of the language situation caused by the change in the vector of bilingualism: the change of Russian-Church Slavonic bilingualism to Russian-European in the era of historical changes. The increasing role of the semantics of European languages in the formation of the Russian literary language of the secular period is noted. The authors emphasize that the conflict trends in the XVIII century were determined by a number of factors: the transformation of public consciousness, historically determined features of the structure of the Russian literary language, ideological priorities and the life position of reformers (Lomonosov, Trediakovsky, Sumarokov, etc.). It is said that by the end of the XVIII century the French language is fixed as an intermediary between two cultural worlds — Russia and France. It becomes the most popular language in literature and everyday communication of representatives of secular culture. The authors of the article cite facts showing the rejection of mechanical Francophonie by Russian educators in the scientific polemics of the XVIII century. The rivalry of European languages (German, French) in determining the nature of bilingualism of so-called New period is revealed and analyzed. The conclusion is made about the contradictory nature of the process of europeanization of the Russian elite, which perceived Russian-French bilingualism as the key to world culture, and the emerging national consciousness in its appeal to the origins of the Russian-Church Slavonic bilingualism of pre-Peter Rus. The practical significance of the research is to extrapolate the experience of historical bilingualism of the Russian literary language to the study and assessment of changes taking place in the ethnic and linguistic consciousness of modern society, and the formation of multicultural tolerance.

Models of municipal management and personnel exchange with regions: are the implemented practices effective?

The reform of the municipal system carried out since 2010 has revealed changes in the models of power organization and the growing interest of the federal authorities in the formation of reliable managerial personnel at the local level. The analysis of biographies of heads of municipalities in 80 subjects of the Federation, conducted by the authors of the article, showed that the state authorities actively use the municipal level as a personnel reserve. The study systematizes data on the choice of municipalities of one of the three main management models - the model of an elected head, a single-headed model of a city manager and a two-headed model. The article shows that the process of recruiting the municipal elite in Russia since 2010 has been intertwined with the formation of the state bureaucracy and the deputy corps, and the regional and municipal elite have become inseparable from each other, which corresponds to the peculiarities of the functioning of regional political regimes in Russia, where there are no two independent levels of power. The paper uses statistical methods to confirm the expediency of switching to non-electoral models for determining municipal heads from the point of view of stabilizing the political regime. The authors conclude that the reform of local self-government contributed to the formation of a unified system of public power in Russia before the constitutional reform of 2020, and the merging of the regional and municipal elite has a stabilizing political effect, playing an important role in strengthening the existing political regime.

Political Innovation as a Communicative Process: the receptivity of elites to innovations

The paper is dedicated to the analysis of political innovations in the context of the general theory of innovation. The author defines the main scientific approaches used in social sciences and humanities to innovations, identifies the political features of the introduction of innovations, and, based on the examination of the problems of innovations introduction from the standpoint of political science, analyzes the role of Russian elites in the development of modern Russia. The study reveals the content of the concepts of innovation in the political sphere and political innovation, which are not that much the innovations per se, but the political processes determined by these innovations, as well as the associated political decisions and applied innovative political technologies. The article reveals the role of Russian elites in the innovative development of Russia, analyzes the susceptibility of Russian elites to innovations on the basis of the Elite Quality Index, and shows their ability to implement policies for the innovative development of Russia.

The Ruling Elite in Russia: Continuity or Change?

The third Vladimir’s Putin presidential term (2012-2018) was a significant period for the Russian Federation political security. Social protests, the annexation of Crimea, conflicts in eastern Ukraine and Syria, as well as economic sanctions and the deepening Russian isolationism - these are just some of the problems that Russian authorities had to face to ensure political stability. The aim of this article was to examine the changes and conflicts that occurred within President Putin’s inner circle between 2012 and 2018. The research was conducted according to content analysis method. It revealed that in 2012-2018 the attempts to weaken the decision-making power elite as a whole failed.

“The Bet” against Nihilism: The Intellectual Journey in Chekhov’s Short Fiction

Abstract Anton Chekhov’s “The Bet” (1889) may be considered a latter-day conte- philosophique, as a symbolic engagement with the philosophical challenges presented by nihilism and anarchism that reverberated through Russia since the 1860s. Occasionally assigned in literature classes and alluded to by political pundits, the story nonetheless has not been recognized by critics as a masterpiece of irony and existential inquiry, influenced by countervailing currents of nineteenth-century philosophy. Considered in this article in the broader context of the Chekhovian intellectual journey, the fascinating yet unsettling quest for wisdom described in “The Bet” reflects a pivotal era of the Russian elite, suspended between bourgeois indifference and philosophical recognition.

Идеи Сато Масару о российско-японских связях в 1990–2010-е гг. в контексте его профессиональной биографии

Introduction. Paper examines the views on politics and politicians of a former diplomat, member of the Japanese MOFA “Russian school”, popular political analyst, author of more than 200 books and articles on politics, politicians and political thought, Sato Masaru. Methods and Materials. The objective of this study is to extract the most relevant and illustrative ideas about politics and political behavior, expressed by a former diplomat, which relate to the essential characteristics and contents of the Russian-Japanese negotiations in the 1990s. The data sources for our analysis are the memoirs by Sato Masaru and his non-fiction texts (“The Self-Destructing Empire”, “The Art of Negotiating”, “State, God and Marxism”, “Russian-Japanese Diplomatic Relations: Northern Territories and Intelligence”). Analysis. Sato Masaru expresses uncommon views on Japanese and Russian political culture during the period of the rise of the Russian-Japanese relations in Post-Cold War era, which coincided with the “Lost Decade” depression in Japan in the 1990s and lasted for three decades. Moreover, Sato’s views illustrate the pragmatic approaches of the Japanese diplomatic machine towards the dialogue with Russia, while he obtained his information by observing members of elite groups of politicians in Moscow and Tokyo. In order to extract and study Sato’s most representative ideas, we have divided our text into four parts: (1) Sato Masaru’s professional biography, (2) his views on the structure of Russian and Japanese elite groups in relation to Sato’s diplomatic activities; (3) his assessment of the Putin-Abe dialogue in the context of the international situation. Results. The specific Sato’s views concerning Russian-Japanese relations in the Post-Cold War decades consist in (1) similarities between Russian and Japanese political cultures within the structure and behavior of elites, which are beneficial for a fruitful interstate dialogue; (2) assessment of the Putin-Abe ties in the 2010s taking into account Sato’s diplomatic experience in the 1990s and a panoramic view of international affairs under the Ukrainian crisis and sanctions during the 2010s.

The Traditional Ranks in the Petrine Epoch: Between Afterlife and Innovation

The ranks and awards of Russian service elites and nobility have been a historiographical issue since the eighteenth century. G. F. Miller reflected on the psychology of the Tsar’s subjects, who asked Peter the Great to keep some of the old ranks during the introduction of new ones and described two such cases. Soviet historians of the 1980s discovered several appointments to the old ranks made in the early eighteenth century and registered in archival documents. These curious cases were interpreted by researchers as isolated exceptions or the result of the inertia of old practices. The study of mass historical sources has since led to the discovery of more than 1100 cases of this kind and provided different contexts in which these awards were granted. It was previously thought that Tsar Peter ridiculed the old ranks, giving them only to his jesters. Modern research on Peter’s innovations leads to a different view. For example, the introduction of the Hungarian dress and beard shaving was carried out in several steps, with backtracking. There has also been some oversimplification of the comparative pairs of epithets, such as “Muscovite-Imperial”, “old-new”, “ and “boyars-nobility”, which reflects nothing but the didactic attitudes of historians themselves. This article demonstrates that there was no dearth of official awards or withdrawal of the Duma ranks until the 1710s, at least. The introduction of The Table of Ranks did not abolish the ranks of “courtiers” (tsaredvortsy), as the earlier Muscovite ranks were called, which became the basis of the nobility. Peter I introduced several innovations to the traditional service hierarchy. Before the beginning of the Great Northern War, hundreds of the Tsarina’s stol’niki and court servitors were transferred to the Muscovite ranks, following which the Zhiletsky List continued being replenished for some years afterwards. The drama of ranks was aggravated by the enhanced status of the regular army ranks, which were outside the Moskovsky Spisok (the hierarchy of traditional ranks). The course of events was accelerated by the Tsar’s intention to implement European analogues of court and civil titles. Nevertheless, the popularity of the traditional ranks outside the army remained high. According to many sources, the traditional ranks of Muscovy were kept in check and re-registered throughout Peter’s reign. The Tsar’s decrees raised the status of military service. He sometimes approved petitions for the Duma ranks by several of his subjects and had his unique way of indicating the prospects for advancement to other petitioners. The low-level Muscovite ranks within the traditional hierarchy proved to be more stable than previously assumed. Muscovite ranks were not included in The Table of Ranks because the only rank of mass appointments by the early 1720s was that of a d’iak.

The establishment and functionality of government bodies responsible for implementation of privatization during the 1991–1993

This article examines the establishment of government structures responsible for conducting privatization, as well as the rapid evolution that they underwent overt the period from 1991 to 1993. The struggle of various political forces resulted in creation of the two departments responsible for conducting privatization &amp;ndash; the State Property Committee and the Federal Agency for State Property Management. The author elucidates the factors of their creation, analyzes the aspects of the political struggle between various Russian elite groups that influenced the structure of privatization bodies. Analysis is also conducted on the practical activity of both &amp;ldquo;privatization&amp;rdquo; bodies and the State Property Committee and the Federal Agency for State Property Management during the 1991&amp;ndash;1993. The following conclusions were made: 1. The bodies responsible for privatization were created for political reasons, and despite the outlined objectives, were not assigned the task of effectively selling state property. 2. The State Property Committee was formed as part of I. S. Silaev&amp;rsquo;s government for engaging enterprises from the union jurisdiction to the Russian jurisdiction. 3. The Federal Agency for State Property Management was established to obstruct the government of I. S. Silaev in managing privatization; however, due to imminent resignation of this government and formation of the new Yeltsin-Gaidar government with the dominant position held by another elite group &amp;ndash; &amp;ldquo;young reformers&amp;rdquo; &amp;ndash; it was no longer relevant all the way until 1993. &amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;

Elite response to protest in authoritarian settings: evidence from Russia

ABSTRACT Scholars of contentious politics understand the critical role of opposition protests and the elite in influencing regime outcomes. What is less understood, however, is how opposition protest can impact the “hearts and minds” of elites in authoritarian settings. Using the timing of the Survey of Russian Elites and a 2016 protest in Moscow to commemorate the death of a Russian opposition figure, we show that elites initially responded with sympathy to the peaceful and well-attended protest, but those feelings faded in the weeks following the event. We attribute the ephemeral nature of the protest’s impact to a successful strategy by the Kremlin to acknowledge the event and then promptly ignore it in the following weeks. We posit this allowed the event to leave the consciousness of most elites and their feelings returned to pre-protest levels. Our findings suggest that certain opposition protests can garner sympathy among the elite in authoritarian settings, but also highlight the passive tools of authoritarian regimes in minimizing the impact of protest movements. Opposition movements, thus, not only have to cue sympathetic feelings among the elite, but also have to sustain that persuasion in subsequent news cycles.

Literacy and education among the nobility in post-Petrine Russia

ABSTRACT Educational reforms and introduction of compulsory schooling for nobility are rightly counted among the most important changes introduced by Peter I in Russia. This article employs a large sample of records from the Heraldry, a government agency in charge of registering nobles for their mandatory service, to assess the spread of literacy among the first post-Petrine generation of the Russian elite and to explore the factors that affected one’s likelihood of being literate. The data suggests that literacy indeed had become the norm among the nobles, and illiteracy, even though not uncommon, came to predominantly be associated with relative social marginality.

Professional elevators to the Russian political elite

The article identifies and analyses the main professions-suppliers of personnel to the authorities, reveals their role in the formation of the Russian managerial political elite, and also considers professional spheres and social groups from which incorporation into the political class occurs. The paper takes as a basis the biographies of 800 representatives of all levels of executive and legislative power holding senior positions. According to the results the author creates a rating of professions that cater to the power system, determines the professional lifts and levels at which they are able to lead as well as dedicates and differentiates by the branches of the professional sphere – ramps leading to municipal, regional and Federal authorities. The study notes the special role of engineering-technical and economic professional blocks in the ability to enter the authorities. And also the article identifies and defines a significant group in terms of number with high passability at all levels of government and an instant career type that leads to power immediately after receiving higher education. The paper considers social and educational features of this group, reveals universities-suppliers, tendencies of recruitment of this category in the system of power. The author notes the role of the digital sphere in the formation of the political elite.