Members of the Russian Government: Features of Post-government Careers

Abstract

Citation: Tev D. (2019) Members of the Russian Government: Features of Post-government Careers. Mir Rossii, vol. 28, no 4, pp. 6–29 (in Russian).
DOI: 10.17323/1811-038X-2019-28-4-6-29

This article analyzes post-government careers of members of Russian government. Empirically the study is based on the biographies of 221 post-Soviet office holders who have quit their post at least once by August 2017. The study reveals that, after leaving their office, members of the government typically end up in federal administrative structures, in particular, the presidential administration. The second important post-government career is business: the majority of former government members have experience in commercial structures, including in the country’s largest firms, but transitions to them are mostly indirect. The patterns of employment of former government officials in business may, in part, reflect the nature of Russian capitalism and may be positively related to the business-friendly policies they pursued during their tenure. A less significant extension of post-government careers is service in the legislative bodies, primarily the State Duma. Such transitions
(as well as reverse transitions, i.e. from legislative bodies into government structures) occur much less frequently than in most European countries, and this partly reflects the current system of government in Russia. In general, after resignation members of the government tend occupy key positions in a variety of organizations, and the overwhelming majority
of these positions are elite positions of different levels and functional specializations.