The center cannot hold?: Elite mobility and patronage in the North Caucasus during the Soviet and post-Soviet periods
This thesis explores the evolution of elite mobility and patronage in the North Caucasus across the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. The North Caucasus is defined as Dagestan, Chechnya, Ingushetia, North Ossetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Karachaevo-Cherkessia, and Stavropol krai. The thesis examines the career mobility and patronage relationships of both the regional first secretaries serving in these territories from 1956 to 1991 and the regional executives serving from 1991 to the present. It uses Henry Hale’s conception of patronalism as a theoretical basis and attempts to apply his analysis of regime transitions in the post-Soviet space to leadership transitions in these regions during the Soviet and post-Soviet periods. The thesis ultimately shows that though the functional characteristics of regional elites in the North Caucasus have evolved from the Soviet through the post-Soviet era, the political system is still characterized by exchanges of concrete rewards and punishments through networks of acquaintance—consistent with the conception of patronalism. However, Hale’s analysis of regime transitions is ultimately inapplicable because the leadership changes in the North Caucasus from the Soviet through the post-Soviet periods are ultimately more consistent with the logic of personnel changes.
Political Science, Elites, Patronage, Regional Administration, Russian and East European Studies, North Caucasus
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign