The paper investigates the process of forming the patron-clientelistic system of relations in political elite structure of post-Soviet Russia in period of transformation of political regime. 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 were fairly vague: the question as to who were the real holders of power was 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.
Analysis of the political élite structure of transformational period of post-Soviet Russia 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.
In its turn, the analysis of filters and channels of incorporation and excorporation of the system of political élite showed that the main criterion for entry into this system was not so much competence, system of examinations, and knowledge of formal instructions, but rather a complex of personal ties, observance of the established rules of behavior, an ability to comply with the informal principles of making a career in administration, which was conducive to developing patron-clientelistic ties. Criminal operations became possible owing to the fact that the ruling class that had formed in the conditions of low institutionalization of the political system functioned in the form of closed political and economic groups.
