Duka A. Mobil’nost’ i endogennost’ regional’nykh politiko-administrativnykh elit [Mobility and endogeneity of regional political and administrative elites]. Vlast’i elity [Power and Elites], 2021, 8 (1): 66–99. DOI: https: ...

Abstract

The article discusses the problems of social and spatial mobility of regional Russian elites (administrators and deputies). It is shown that mobility is a factor in the internal differentiation of elites. Elites are more mobile than the general population. This difference is due to the position of powerful persons in the hierarchy. At the same time, the mobility of elite persons is not constant. It changes over time. To characterize spatial stability the term endogeneity is used, which is somewhat broader than simply fixing a certain degree of spatial mobility of an individual or social group relative to a specific biographical milestone — birth, (higher) education, occupation of a particular position, etc. in its relation to the administrative / geographical / political place. In the article, endogeneity (embeddedness) is understood as a sustainable connection of an individual (politician, administrator) with the local community, its interests and needs. “Sustainable connection” is based on embeddedness in the local community and the resulting social relations of various levels and character. The empirical basis of the research is the biographical database of members of the elite community of ten regions. In the center of the analysis are the political and administrative elites for 2020 (1124 persons). Materials from the databases of 2010 (651 persons) and 2015 (1510 persons), as well as data from Russian Federal State Statistics Service, are also used. It was found that there is a wide range of characteristics of mobility and endogeneity of power groups across regions. However, the indicators of mobility and endogeneity of the administrative and political elite, although they do not coincide, are close. In most of the regions under study, there is an increase in the rootedness of the elite, a decrease in the mobility of its members. The integral index of endogeneity (endogenous core) is increasing in most of the studied subjects of the Federation. Differentiation of endogeneity indices by age groups is observed. Younger politicians and administrators turn out to be less mobile, more endogenous. This may indicate the emergence of stable regional recruitment basins, the stabilization of regional power groups, and their closure in relation to external actors. Contrary to expectations, the presence of an “alien” governor (appointed from Moscow) does not significantly affect the dynamics of mobility / endogeneity of the regional administrative elite, which may indicate the relative autonomy of regional bureaucrats.