Professional development and political career in Russia

Introduction: whether politics is an independent professional position in society, or a meta-profession, is a discussion that originates in the works of M. Weber. Objectives: to identify the professions that are most in demand in the managerial elite and the reasons under it. Methods: biographical analysis, the empirical base being 800 biographies of the political elite members representing three levels of power. The analysis examined social mobility elevators bringing them to the top. The group of 312 people was selected, both bureaucrats and legislators, whose ascent was associated with an initial successful professional career. Results: further career trajectories analysis of this group revealed the professional fields that acted as springboards to power and which organizations were drivers. It was found that 39 % of members of the establishment made their careers in government structures because they first achieved significant success in their first profession. But career backgrounds vary depending on the branch of government and the level of its organization. Conclusions: at the federal level, managers, economists and lawyers dominate among representatives of executive structures. There is also a significant proportion of representatives of law enforcement agencies to ensure internal order and external security and engineers to implement national projects. Entrepreneurs promote their interests through regional legislative assemblies. The level of municipal self-government is filled with successful engineering and technical workers coming mainly from the spheres of housing and communal services and construction, as well as from socially significant areas – education and healthcare.