Governors and members of regional governments: career paths of senior executive officials of the Russian Federation subjects

The publication contains research results from a study of high-ranking officials of executive power representing selected federal regions of the Russian Federation. It’s based on a comparison of the career paths of 794 biographies from biographic databases from 2015 and 2021 that cover high-level officials and administrative elites in the regions. The analysis included variables that characterize primary and professional socialization. We viewed the pre-elite career stage from the perspective of the recruitment pool. The analysis also encompassed variables like prior work experience in law enforcement agencies and previous administrative experience. We evaluated the speed of elite careers using the duration of appointments, as well as their level in hierarchy and fields of work. Overall, primary and professional socialization, as well as career paths of regional high-level officials, are almost identical to those of the administrative elite as a whole. However, some differences are discernible. For instance, the first elite-level appointment of r egional officials happens at a younger age. The key area of their pre-elite activities belongs to the political and administrative domains from which the recruitment mostly takes place. This tendency is also characteristic of the administrative elite as a whole. Law enforcement and military backgrounds are not significant in forming the recruitment pool, even though the share of top-level administrators with such backgrounds had grown from 11 % in 2015 to 30 % in 2021. Top-level administrators, along with the majority of the administrative corps, are pursuing their careers within a regional context. Federal-level appointments are rare. Both the regional and municipal levels hold minimal significance. Renewal of the top-level administrators goes slower than in the administrative elite as a whole. We view regional differences in career paths from the perspective of the Russian Federation’s ongoing re-centralization since 2000. The country remains a multi-level political system. There are still differences between regions when it comes to political opportunities, the formation of administrative elites and groups of top-level administrators, and career paths.