The article analyzes the monograph by Ya. A. Plais “The political elite of post-Soviet Russia: stages of transformation, problems of improvement”, published by the publishing house “Political Encyclopedia” in 2024. The author of the study believes that, despite the presence of numerous scientific publications on various aspects of elite education, there is a need to prepare a complete work compactly combining disparate articles written over the past 20 years, representing the dynamics of the process of studying and transforming Russia's political elites during the transition period. In the introductory article, the author outlines the need for a scientific understanding of how the process of elite education has evolved in Russia, what are its positive and negative sides. The author's concept of a social revolution with an uncertain vector of development is set out on a par with the fourth industrial revolution and the sixth technological revolution. The author offers his understanding of the peculiarities of the transitional states of various types of elite formation, believing that they are influenced by special features of the political system, the historical experience of the country, external forces and shadow circumstances. Special attention is paid to the systemic modernization of state and public life in Russia. Theoretical reflections on the transformation of elites in transitional epochs and its features in modern Russia are of interest. At the end of the article, the problems of the formation and rotation of Russia's political elites in the dissertations of Russian political scientists are considered.

The article analyzes the monograph by Ya. A. Plais “The political elite of post-Soviet Russia: stages of transformation, problems of improvement”, published by the publishing house “Political Encyclopedia” in 2024. The author of the study believes that, despite the presence of numerous scientific publications on various aspects of elite education, there is a need to prepare a complete work compactly combining disparate articles written over the past 20 years, representing the dynamics of the process of studying and transforming Russia's political elites during the transition period. In the introductory article, the author outlines the need for a scientific understanding of how the process of elite education has evolved in Russia, what are its positive and negative sides. The author's concept of a social revolution with an uncertain vector of development is set out on a par with the fourth industrial revolution and the sixth technological revolution. The author offers his understanding of the peculiarities of the transitional states of various types of elite formation, believing that they are influenced by special features of the political system, the historical experience of the country, external forces and shadow circumstances. Special attention is paid to the systemic modernization of state and public life in Russia. Theoretical reflections on the transformation of elites in transitional epochs and its features in modern Russia are of interest. At the end of the article, the problems of the formation and rotation of Russia's political elites in the dissertations of Russian political scientists are considered.