HOW THE PORTRAIT OF THE RUSSIAN GOVERNORS HAS CHANGED: ANALYZING BIOGRAPHIES OF THE HEADS OF RUSSIAN REGIONS. 1991-2019
The author identifies five main stages of the transformation of the Russian political system that have had the greatest impact on the regional level of power. Based on these stages, there are analyzed biographies of all the heads of Russian regions who held their positions from 1991 to 2019. The main goal was to identify social characteristics and career paths of the heads of Russian regions. It has been found that there took place reproduction of Soviet elites rather than a radical renewal of regional elites. The portrait of the head of a region has changed from the Soviet type to the modern ‘manager' type. The author demonstrates the tendency of plutocratization of regional elites due to the increasing number of business representatives and the free exchange of cadres between the power and business. The paper also reveals such trends as professionalization of bureaucracy and the growing dependence of regions on the federal authorities due to an increase in the number of ‘Varangians' among the heads of regions.