CYNICISM AND RUDENESS OF REGIONAL POLITICAL ELITE IN THE CONTEXT OF STRUCTURAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS
The purpose of the article is to analyze the biographies of a number of representatives of the regional political elite, who in the period of 2018-2020 (mainly) due to incorrect, sometimes boorish statements and actions against citizens, became participants in public scandals. The authors focused on more than 80 biographies of leaders and employees of regional and municipal authorities. The structural and biographical analysis made it possible to determine to which generation this cohort of politicians belongs, the peculiarities of the spiritual and professional atmosphere of their socialization in the context of both their previous work and the time they came to power structures, geographical and regional aspects, as well as the educational level. The factors that determine the tendency of the modern regional elite to harsh neoliberal rhetoric provoking public outrage and scandals are highlighted. Within the framework of the regional cut of the scandalous mass-elite communication, the Volga-Ural region turned out to be predominant. The statements and activities of politicians / officials from the central and (especially) southern regions were the least likely to find themselves in the center of public scandals.