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The panel is aimed to present several sociological investigations united by the problem of democratic transition in Russia in the context of re-centralisation of power. In this perspective a characterising of state power and civil society is of great importance. All presented researches cover some crucial aspects of power elite dynamics and civil activism. We identify elite according to the concept of C. Wright Mills and T. Day and apply the M. Burton’s and J. Higley’s basic categories for description of elite structure. The investigations dealing with power elite are focused on the problem of relation between political and administrative elite groups. Tendencies of interaction between the sectors in the elite community are studied by two ways. The first one is the research of elite structure and its dynamic which are analysed through dominant recruitment models by means of biographical method. The second one, based on sociological interviews, examines informal practices within some institutions of regional level, such as representative and executive power bodies and elite clubs of Saint-Petersburg. The study of civil activism is devoted to a problem of social movements formation, local character of mobilisation in particular. The method of involved observation is used to distinguish possible models of interaction between different autonomous groups and their core activists. Synthesis of results reveals development of two complicated processes, stabilisation of power elite on the one hand and a civil mobilisation from below on the other hand. Several closely connected tendencies, such as recruitment pool restricting, fusion of representative and executive bodies instead of division of powers and domination of administrative sector in policy-making testify to closing of elite, narrowing of its differentiation and increasing of its dependence on state. In this context the strengthening of civil activism is observed.
| Title | Details |
|---|---|
| Model of Regional Power in the Context of Federal Administrative Reform (2000-2011) | View Paper Details |
| Elites Clubs Russian Realia and West Studies | View Paper Details |
| Social and Labour Movements in St. Petersburg: Rise of the Leaders and Interaction between Groups | View Paper Details |