Russian political elite in the Russian politics after the collapse of the Soviet Union

Today, even though Russia is not as influential in the world politics as it used to be during the bi-polar period, it is still one of the biggest, and the most effective countries. To understand Russian politics, it is significant to analyze the Russian political elites. In the first part of the dissertation, general elite theories which form the basis for understanding the Russian political elites are introduced and the historical background of Russian political elite starting from the early Russian city states is studied. The main part of the dissertation focuses on the Russian political elite after the demise of the Soviet Union. One of the most important issues being discussed in this part is whether there is a continuity or change in the formation of new Russian elites. Furthermore, the distinctive features of the current Russian elite are discussed in this part. Of the important issues being discussed are the oligarchs who emerged especially during the Yeltsin period; mafia, crime, and corruption in Russia and their political implications, Putin's struggle with the oligarchs; Putin's recentralization policies and their political consequences; the properties of Sloviki who are the people that have come into the political arena with Putin in the office; the ever increasing effect of Russian Orthodoxy in politics. The political thoughts which determine the orientation of the Russian political elites are also introduced in this section. In addition, studies which focus on socio-economic characteristics of Russian political elites and their findings are given in this part. KEY WORDS: elites, nobility, boyars, nomenklatura, Russian political elites, reproduction, circulation, oligarchs, sloviki