printHigh-Ranking Officials of Russian Federal Executive Bodies:
Recruitment Models and Transformation of the Collective Portrait
Borshchevskiy G.A.
Dr. Sci. (Polit.), Prof., Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, Moscow, Russia borshchevskiy-ga@ranepa.ru
Borshchevskiy G.A. High-Ranking Officials of Russian Federal Executive Bodies: Recruitment Models and Transformation of the Collective Portrait. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2026. No 2. P. 3-15
In the paper we examine the biographies of senior civil servants of the Russian federal executive bodies in order to identify their predominant recruitment types and career trajectories. We use the biographical method, comparative analysis and statistical methods. Three recruitment models (administrative, professional and political) are proposed, and they are a convenient research tool for a limited raw data. On this basis we presented a new data on the top federal bureaucracy. Different recruitment models exist in parallel in practice, and the predominance of internal hiring channels remains. The administrative model is typical for authorities subordinate to the President, and the political model prevails in departments controlled by Prime Minister. Second-tier managers more often meet the criteria of Weberian bureaucracy than higher-ranking officials. A significant number of departments do not have a predominant recruitment type, which is probably due to the lack of a personnel policy common to the Russian civil service entire.
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