Systems Approach in Studying Elite of Transitional Political Regimes

The question which the paper investigates is the studying of the political elite of dynamic transitional political regimes. Traditionally political élite is studied as a social group, in framework of such studies the personal structure of this group, the channels of incorporation and excorporation are explored, but it is noteworthy that the subject of political élite of transitive or transformational societies is somewhat wider than a mere social characteristic of the ruling class: in the first place, this problem concerns the peculiarities of the ruling regime, design of the power institutions, prospects of transformation and directions of transformation of political system. Application of the systems analysis to studying the political élite enabled to analyze the structure and functions of the élite, create a model of élitogenesis. Studying the political élite as a system but not merely a social group allowed to substantially broaden the scope for analyzing it. The report presents theoretical calculations. The present “system-élite” concept was used in the study of the transformation processes in the regions in the post-Soviet Russia. The empirical material obtained in this way made it possible to elaborate the theoretical model. Nevertheless, the theoretical model needs some further testing and completion on a broader empirical basis