ROSTOV SCIENTIFIC SCHOOL OF POLITICAL ELITISM IN RETROSPECT AND PERSPECTIVE

Objective of the study is the analysis of the genesis of the scientific school of political elitism at South-Russian Institute of Management of Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (Rostov-on-Don). The methodological basis of the study was the analysis of scientometric indicators of representatives of the scientific school of political elitism; quantitative data on the defense of candidate's and doctoral dissertations in the Dissertation Council for Political Sciences at the North Caucasus Academy of Public Administration (then the RANEPA Law School); research and publication activity of members of the scientific school of political elitism. Results of the study. The main issues and approaches to its solution within the framework of this scientific school are presented, research and personnel achievements in the period 1995-2024 are shown. More than 30 Doctors and Candidates of Political Sciences have been trained here, specializing directly in the field of elitism. There are also more than 200 Candidates and Doctors of Political Sciences in other fields. The founders of the scientific school are Professors A. V. Ponedelkov and A. M. Starostin, as well as their partners – Professors S. I. Kuzina, S. A. Kislitsyn, A. K. Agaponov, established a notable scientific tradition in Russian Political Science, based on the advanced principle of elite determinism in Political Science. Prospects of the study. This material will be useful for further study of the development of the scientific school of political elitism in the South of Russia.