The paper investigates the specificity of leadership in the system of political elite of transitional societies. In transitional societies fragmentation of the political élite leads to slackening of the vertical intra-élite control, as well as to the erosion of hierarchical envelopes of the power resource organization; as a result, various forces pretend to the positions of domination in the political system of the country, or maybe some region. In these conditions the role of personal aims and ambitions is high.
It is noteworthy that in the conditions of transformation, the rules of political game are fairly vague: the question as to who are the real holders of power is determined in the course of its spontaneous redistribution among different subjects, rather than in the prescribed and regulated order. On their part, being interested in retaining the state of uncertainty enabling them to have a fairly considerable freedom of actions, élite groups at that stage did not see any necessity to restore clearly stated rules of game.
An influential leader, using his personal connections could achieve a situation when administrative positions were monopolized by some group of élite, whose members would take the process of institutionalized construction under their control and form future structures of power to suit their aims. In these conditions a personage with mighty and extensive connections acquired the status considerably exceeding the one to which his office corresponded formally; on the contrary, a weak personage would humble his position, belittling it in the eyes of the political élite.
Personification of power took place as a result of violation of the process of functioning of institutions of government, and was one of the ways of strengthening influence of groups of élite and shadow lobby. The leader found himself in a complex system of interdependencies, his field of activities was limited: influential groups narrowed any possibilities of his initiative. A system of relations was being formed based on the mechanisms of rigid functional dependences and a complex of informal connections and coinciding interests at personal levels. As a result, the leader had to follow the established logics of development of the system. Substituting personalities for institutions also led to a situation when the leader had to rely on the informal centers of influence; consequently, politics retired to the lobby spheres, which gave rise to uncontrolledness.
Analysis of the political élite structure of transitional societies showed that at the stage of institutionalization the relations inside the élite were regulated by a whole complex of formal and informal connections, in agreement with the rules of conduct privately established but generally accepted. The structure of political élite system was characterized by rather rigid hierarchical features, and was oriented at personalities. The ruling élite functioned as an echelon of support for one of the first personages of political establishment, which predetermined the clan character of the relations, striving for isolation, negative expectations concerning recruiting new politicians, who were regarded in the first place as rivals in the struggle for the influence of their patron.
