Tev D.B. Vysokopostavlennye federal’nye chinovniki Rossii: kar’era posle uhoda s dolzhnosti [High-ranking federal officials of Russia: career after leaving office]. Vlast’ i jelity [Power and Elites], 2023, 10 (1): 69–97. (In Russian)

Òåêñò ñòàòüè íà ñàéòå æóðíàëà URL: http://socinst.ru/publications/powerelites/tom10-1/article3/ (äàòà îáðàùåíèÿ 29.12.2023)

Abstract

The article analyzes the careers after leaving the office of members of the federal administrative elite of Russia of 2013. The empirical basis is a biographical database, which includes 575 questionnaires, updated in 2020. The vast majority of officials have left their posts by the time of the study. Departure from it is associated with different circumstances (resignation of the government, abolition of departments, reaching the age limit for civil service, criminal cases, scandals), and the level of personnel renewal varies in different departments. The circulation of cadres within the federal administration prevails; it is the most important place of work for officials who have left the post. Most often, they remained in the same government body, in a different position, but interdepartmental mobility is also noticeable (including the exchange of personnel between the government and the Presidential Administration), contributing to the cohesion of the administrative elite. Often, an administrative position, primarily in economic departments, served as a springboard to prominent positions in business, which in the conditions of “crony” capitalism is especially interested in attracting officials. Mainly, we are talking about employment in large firms, creating a dynamic interlocking of the administrative and economic elites. Despite the legal restrictions, there is a tendency to employ officials in subordinate companies. While there are examples of their transition to the private sector, most often they ended up in state-owned companies. Only in isolated cases did officials move to parliament. The weakness of the Federal Assembly undermines the motivation for a legislative career. However, the control of parliament by the president and administrative structures can facilitate the access of officials to key parliamentary posts, increasing the importance of ties in the administration as a “pulling out” factor of recruitment. In general, at the time of the study, slightly less than half of the members of the federal administrative elite of 2013 belonged to one of three factions of the nationwide power elite (administrative, political, economic)