The Federal Assembly as a channel of recruitment of the Russian government elite

The article is devoted to the analysis of the role of parliamentary experience in the previous career of the Russian Federation government members. The empirical basis of the study is a biographical database that includes questionnaires for 136 persons who were members of the Russian government in 2000–2021. The author concludes that the Federal Assembly is a secondary channel of recruitment of the government elite, which mainly comes from administrative bodies and often has experience in business. This is not surprising, since parliament is controlled by the head of state and has little influence on the formation of the government. However, the prevalence of parliamentary experience varies in different governments: it is relatively common in the cabinet of M.M. Kasyanov, the second government of V.V. Putin and the first government of D.A. Medvedev, while it is absent among members of the current cabinet M.V. Mishustin. Members of the government with legislative experience usually served in senior positions in the legislature: vice-speakers, chairmen of committees and leaders of factions. The prevalence of parliamentary experience also varies depending on the type of government position: deputy prime ministers are more likely to come from the legislature than economic and power ministers. For deputy prime ministers, experience in senior positions in parliament and parties is more important due to the specifics of their functions in government and their role in intra-elite networks and interactions.

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