The role of the “third sector” in the political careers of men and women in Russia

Gender asymmetry in the distribution within Russian politics suggests the presence of a "glass ceiling" that does not allow women to fully realise their potential. The article is devoted to the assessment of socio-political activity as social capital that helps women to co-opt into the state governance system and overcome internal restrictions. In world practice, public non-governmental non-profit organisations have come to be viewed as a special segment of the economy - the "third sector”. It plays an increasingly significant role in the development of civil society and influences the political sphere in Russia. The purpose of the study was to assess the third sector as a pool of recruitment to power. Using the method of retrospective biographical analysis of eight hundred successful acting politicians and managers of both sexes, an analysis of their incorporation into the state system was carried out, gender differences between political trajectories were identified. The most effective in structure were all-Russian public organisations with an extensive network of branches throughout the country, which allows them to accumulate social and administrative resources and successfully incorporate their representatives into government bodies. The party lift functions successfully for both sexes. The analysis allows us to conclude that the third sector is a pool of recruitment into the country's political system; vertical mobility has a number of gender differences. For women, the social capital that allows for vertical mobility is a party career, experience in the system of public chambers, participation in the People's Front "For Russia" movement, as well as in professional and charitable NGOs. For them, activity in the public field is an effective way to build a political trajectory to any level of the power pyramid. The business community, through non-profit associations, tries not only to be useful to the state, but also quite successfully uses them to incorporate its members into various branches of government, but this lift operates mainly for men.

third sector, non-profit organizations, politics, gender, social elevators, vertical mobility, recruitment pool, biographical analysis