THE ELITE OF ST-PETERSBURG AS SEEN BY THE CITY INHABITANTS

This paper is based on a survey of St Petersburg's elite, carried out in October 1994 for a city daily, Nevskoe Vremia (a paper with approxi mately 100,000 subscribers). A representative sample of 800 city dwell ers were interviewed by phone, responding to mainly open questions abo ut the city elite. Eight main indicators provided data on the general composition of the elite and lists of names by categories of influence , authority and personal fortune. Of the 150 names nominated by our re spondents, all but 12 were identified and characterized in terms of th eir current or recent formal status, political or social-cultural stan ding and/or reputation. Some general and specific problems of the stud y are considered: What is an elite? Is there a theoretical consensus o n the nature of the ruling and non-ruling constituents of an elite? Wh at are the dynamics of regional or city elites in modern Russia today? Has the emergence of an elite any relevance to the system of represen tative democracy and to other aspects of social life? What are the mec hanisms determining the formation and reproduction of an elite in publ ic space?