Practices of Ethnic Balance Formation in Political Elites of Post-Soviet Republics

The present research is an attempt at studying the issue in the sphere of power-sharing in ethnically divided regions. Investigating ethnic balance in heterogeneous ethnic Russian republics the topic is intended to cover most essential questions regarding conflict prevention and stability of the state. The problem issue under study is linked to the lack of systematic knowledge regarding ethnic factor’s impact on the formation of regional powers in the Russian republics. Biographical and comparative methods utilised in the study are productive tools for pooling information about ethnic situation in regional authorities. They offer a practical way to implement the general purpose of the project. The research will examine practices of ethnic balance formation in regional political elites in the Russian republics, arguing that its changing is linked to the processes of relation’s transformation with the federal power. In order to test this argument, the study presents the dataset on ethnic balance in regional political elites of the Russian republics from 1994 to 2015. The present research will serve as a basis for further theoretical and empirical studies and could be helpful for practical purposes.