The communist counter-elite as a leading unit of the left-wing counter-elite in the modern Russia

This paper examines the emergence and development of the left-wing counter-elite and its vanguard communist counter-elite in the 1990-s - 2010-s. The article reviews the activity of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, aimed at the unification of the left counter-elites in one political force, and the causes of the failure of this attempt. The paper analyzes the relationship of the Communist counter-elite with the ruling elite, on the one hand, and with the non-communist opposition forces, on the other. The author shows how the Communist Party lost its leading position among counter-elites and its gradual transformation from the out-of-system counterelite into the in-system one. The author analyzes the reasons of the reduction of the Communists’ supporting electorate. The paper identifies the factors contributing to the fact that the Communist party still enjoys the support of a certain part of the population.