THE REGIONAL ELITE AS A TALENT POOL FOR THE FEDERAL AUTHORITIES: MECHANISMS AND PRINCIPLES OF RECRUITMENT

Abstract

The interest of various researchers in political elites is due to their role in society — they manage the processes in the most important areas of social development. In the context of the development of Russian society, the issue of recruiting regional political elites to the Federal level is not the last one. In this regard, it is raised the issue of integration of the Federal and regional levels of government in the face of political elites, and also the isolation of the Federal Center from the leadership of Russian subjects. In this article, I discuss the features of regional systems of recruitment of political elites in terms of their openness or closeness to new staff and interaction with the Federal authorities. Also, I consider the main mechanisms of promotion of regional leaders at the Federal level. As a result, it is concluded that the Federal authorities are not interested in creating mechanisms for recruiting regional political elites to the Federal level, so there are relatively few formal mechanisms, innovations are situational, while the promotion of representatives of regional elites through personal channels are few. It is noted that the Federal authorities are taking measures not to form channels of promotion of regional leaders, but to create new levers of influence and centres of power to control the situation at the regional level, bypassing local elites. In addition, I emphasize the closeness of regional elites, slow renewal of their composition and the predominance of the principle of personal loyalty as the main condition for recruiting new personnel.