Vol 11, No 1 (2024)
PROBLEMS OF THE ELITE STUDIES
Traditionalizing in political positioning contemporary elites: temporal dimensions
Abstract
The article examines the role of traditionalizing as an ambivalent process of narrative ordering of collective ideas over time in the political positioning of contemporary political elites. The digitalization of plitical communications increases the variability of “ideas of time”. It requires new ways of thematizing the conflict between the traditional and the innovative in the political and cultural dynamics of contemporary elites. Political elites in different national communities are guided by varying criteria of “repetition” and “continuity” associated with the perception of the pace of political change and expectations of the “present” and “future”. In this regard, the study of the relationship between the “temporal regimes” of political memory and the processes of tradition, the ambivalent process of searching for and ensuring a regime of political continuity, with the binary coding of political communications as “conservative/progressive”, acquires particular significance. Temporal regimes of political communications form according to the homogenization of temporal ideas in communities, creating more stable conditions for a sustainable combination of ideas about the relationship between the past, present, and future. Traditionalizing plays an important role in institutionalizing and maintaining political solidarity, serving as an important cultural resource for the temporal structuring of the political sphere and the opposition to political inversion and arbitrariness in the activity of elites. The processes occurring in the national memory of contemporary communities influenced by the crisis of the temporal regime of the “new time” and articulated by contemporary neoliberal elites, significantly increase the risks of political asynchronization. As a result, political elites and other political actors are increasingly losing the ability to effectively control traditionalizing, replacing it with radical conservative traditionalization or progressivism. Drawing on cultural sociology and anthropology of politics as a methodological basis, I propose new theoretical approaches to the role of temporal dimensions in studying the reproduction of political traditions and the positioning of contemporary elites in the face of neoliberal digitalization strategies.
Power and Elites. 2024;11(1):7-39
7-39
ELITES AND POLITICS IN EUROPE
Contextual moderations of electoral educational inequalities in European countries
Abstract
INEQUALITIES IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIESAbstract. This paper examines educational inequalities of voter participation in parliamentary elections in Europe and Russia. These inequalities, reflecting, as research in Western and Eastern Europe suggests, some of the most pronounced structural differences in voting, may differ markedly across countries, presumably due to their socio-economic development and the state of democratic institutions. In order to test these assumptions, we consider survey data from the European Social Survey (ESS, Round 9) conducted in 28 European countries, including Russia (Round 8), as well as statistical and analytical data on the prevalence of corruption in these countries, the state of unemployment and other characteristics. Statistical analysis is performed using two-level logistic modeling with random coefficients for individual-level variables and explanation of their differences by contextual factors. The results confirm that participation in parliamentary elections is closely related to the education of voters — with its growth the probability of voting increases significantly. This correlation is conditioned by the social context — the electoral activity of educated strata begins to decline as the quality of democratic institutions indicated by corruption perception deteriorates. As the country faces growing economic problems, evidenced by higher unemployment rates, people with low education are more likely to participate in the election of the parliament.
Power and Elites. 2024;11(1):40-70
40-70
CAREERS AND RECRUITMENT OF POLITICAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE ELITES
Promotion system personnel of the state administration of the PRC
Abstract
The author’s view on some basic principles of promotion of public administration personnel of the People’s Republic of China is presented. By the promotion of personnel, the author understands their movement vertically and horizontally in the administrative hierarchy. In China, such movements are orderly and constitute a system of State-controlled actions. The article talks about the qualifications of officials as an imperative requirement of the party-state, types of positions, their distribution, qualification requirements for public positions and their content, reform of the personnel promotion system, mechanisms for their promotion, and assessments of their activities. In addition, the author provides a special political analysis of some of the causes of personnel stagnation, parallel channels for personnel promotion, conditions, qualifications and procedures for personnel promotion, the horizontal personnel exchange system and its current results.
Power and Elites. 2024;11(1):71-104
71-104
POWER AND ELITES IN RUSSIAN CITIES AND TOWNS
Heads of small Russian towns: is it possible to step into the same river twice?
Abstract
This article is based on the materials of an empirical study conducted in two different cities of Shuya and Kineshma in the Ivanovo region and one district in the same region. The study was conducted in 2011, 2018 and 2023 in the city of Shuya, in the city of Kineshma in 2018, and in the Rodniki district in 2023. The purpose of the study: to describe changes in management strategies, personal characteristics and team building of heads during the second coming to power in the same city in different periods. The study was conducted using the interview method. A total of 17 interviews were conducted in the city of Shuya in 2011, 12 in 2018 and 17 interviews in 2023. The Rodniki case included 16 interviews in 2018, conducted during the tenure of the former head of Rodniki as the head of the city of Kineshma, and 15 interviews in 2023, when the previous head returned to his place in 2021 in the Rodnikovsky district. Thus, the analysis is based on the materials of 77 interviews taken from the heads themselves, members of their teams, and representatives of the local elite. The results obtained give reason to assume that control over the situation by the regional authorities is not always a total evil. If this control is carried out not with the aim of punishing, but helping, it gives positive results. Heads today still need to interact with strong players in power, since the situation of governance in small towns today requires them to improve management technologies, which are built up precisely in the process of interaction with such entities The analysis also showed that it is possible to enter power twice. Moreover, the second period of work in power as a head is usually more effective than the first. In the second period, it is possible to avoid the mistakes that were made earlier. At the same time, the city leader can change when new tasks arise. However, the scale of personal and professional changes can be different. The higher the motivation, the greater the likelihood of positive changes. However, no clear patterns were revealed here. Much depends on the socio-economic situation, the attitude of the governor and the desire of the heads themselves to change in order to be as effective as possible. It is important that the position of the elites regarding the activities of the heads largely depends on who headed this city (district) before. If the previous head was weak, the more positive will be the assessments of the heads who returned to work in the city (district) for the second term.
Power and Elites. 2024;11(1):105-154
105-154