Papers by Elena Semenova
The introduction to Part II, Research Methods for Studying Elites, highlights principal methodolo... more The introduction to Part II, Research Methods for Studying Elites, highlights principal methodological developments in the studies of political elites. They involve: (1) methods for explaining how institutions affect the behavior of elites (e.g., event-history analysis and Social Network Analysis), (2) methods for drawing inferences about political outcomes from the knowledge of elites’ behavior (e.g., surveys and experiments), and (3) methods for analyzing the interactions of various elite groups (e.g., observations and interviews of elite members). In addition, methods that have been rarely used in political elite research (e.g., fuzzy-set typologies and fuzzy cognitive maps) are discussed in terms of their merits for examining elite attitudes, structures, and interactions.
Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen, 2015
East European Politics and Societies: and Cultures, 2012
This article focuses on the patterns of parliamentary representation and careers in post-communis... more This article focuses on the patterns of parliamentary representation and careers in post-communist Ukraine. The data includes individual information on 1768 members (with substitutes) of the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, from the parliamentary elections in 1990 through to 2007. Low chances for the social upward mobility of sociodemographic groups such as women and poorly educated people were identified, as well as the high impact of social status on inclusion in the political ruling strata, as exemplified by business elites. Furthermore, MPs with an entrepreneurial background have a greater chance of staying in parliament for three or more legislative terms. The chances of remaining in the Verkhovna Rada are also greater for former Supreme Council parliamentarians, while a high-ranking nomenklatura position has no significant effect on the status of an incumbent. Experience in a political party is crucial for a career in parliament. Parliamentarians with leading party ex...
Comparative Sociology, 2011
This article analyzes the recruitment and circulation of ministerial and parliamentary elites in ... more This article analyzes the recruitment and circulation of ministerial and parliamentary elites in Russia from the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991 until 2009. The social backgrounds and careers of all ministers in 13 cabinets (1991–2009) and all members of the State Duma during its five terms after 1993 are studied. Especially during Vladimír Putin’s presidency (2000–2008), a shift toward super-presidentialism altered the circulation and composition of ministerial and parliamentary elites. Cabinets in Moscow consisted increasingly of ministers recruited from state bureaucracies, while the State Duma more and more contained businessmen, party politicians, and celebrities who appeared to treat MP service as simply an episode in their wider careers.
European Political Science Review, 2021
In this article, we examine the variation in the institutional powers granted to president to ter... more In this article, we examine the variation in the institutional powers granted to president to terminate cabinets (by dismissing prime ministers), and appointing ministers to show how variations affect both cabinet durability (and the mode of cabinet termination) and ministerial durability (i.e., the overall time a minister remains in cabinet). Using the most extensive survival data set on ministers in 14 Central and Eastern European countries available to date alongside data on government survival, our Cox regression models demonstrate that the institutional rules granting extensive powers to the presidents are powerful determinants of ministerial durability. We show that the effect of presidential powers reduces cabinet durability but increases ministerial durability. These results demonstrate that the specific powers given to chief executives are essential for issues surrounding implications for ministerial and cabinet durability, institutional choice, policy stability, and govern...
European Political Science Review, 2021
In this article, we examine the variation in the institutional powers granted to president to ter... more In this article, we examine the variation in the institutional powers granted to president to terminate cabinets (by dismissing prime ministers), and appointing ministers to show how variations affect both cabinet durability (and the mode of cabinet termination) and ministerial durability (i.e., the overall time a minister remains in cabinet). Using the most extensive survival data set on ministers in 14 Central and Eastern European countries available to date alongside data on government survival, our Cox regression models demonstrate that the institutional rules granting extensive powers to the presidents are powerful determinants of ministerial durability. We show that the effect of presidential powers reduces cabinet durability but increases ministerial durability. These results demonstrate that the specific powers given to chief executives are essential for issues surrounding implications for ministerial and cabinet durability, institutional choice, policy stability, and governmental accountability.
Journal of Management and Governance, 2021
This paper seeks to understand the structure of corporate networks in the period following the di... more This paper seeks to understand the structure of corporate networks in the period following the dissolution of Deutschland AG ("Germany Inc."). For this purpose, affiliation networks among chief executive officers (CEOs) that are based on common membership in various societal organizations will be examined. I apply an innovative mix of methods for studying a sample of CEOs from the 100 top companies in Germany in the 2010s. Based on social network analysis, I show that the overall affiliation network has all features of a small-world network, i.e., a high clustering coefficient and a short path length among the CEOs. The average degree of separation among German CEOs is only two steps. Another innovative contribution of this paper is its study of the linkage between affiliation network features and patterns of corporate recruitment. Using multiple correspondence analysis, I show that different subgroups of the overall affiliation network have their specific network characteristics and recruitment patterns. Within the network, managers from automotive and technical engineering often assume brokerage positions, while managers from the trade branch are largely isolated. This study shows that the affiliation networks and corporate recruitment patterns are interlinked; the transformation of corporate networks is a dynamic outcome of interrelations among different subgroups within the network, each with distinct educational, professional, and network characteristics.
Politics and Governance, 2020
This article examines the appointments and survival of expert ministers (i.e., ministers with edu... more This article examines the appointments and survival of expert ministers (i.e., ministers with educational and professional expertise in the portfolio to which they are appointed) in new democracies. Using a novel data set on 11 Central and Eastern European countries from 1990 until 2012, I test competing hypotheses derived from delegation theory, communist legacies approach, technocratic populism studies, and semi-presidentialism literature. The first study shows that experts without political experience (technocrats) have specific cabinet appointment patterns distinguishing them from party politicians and politically experienced experts. For example, technocrats have high chances of being appointed during an economic downturn. The conditional risk set survival analysis has revealed that compared to their politically experienced colleagues, technocrats have higher chances of remaining in their positions if there was a change in the PM's candidacy. Moreover, they have long careers independently of the continuity of the PM's party in government and the PM's partisan status. Strikingly, patterns of portfolio specialization from the communist period remained in place after the regime change (e.g., expert ministers holding the portfolios of finance and economy). However, holding these specific portfolios does not decrease the minister's risk of being dismissed. These findings have ramifications for issues surrounding cabinet formation, institutional choice, and populism in new democracies.
Political Psychology, 2020
This article analyzes the motivations of the three presidents of Russia since the end of the Sovi... more This article analyzes the motivations of the three presidents of Russia since the end of the Soviet Union: Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin, and Dmitry Medvedev. Imagery for the achievement, affiliation, and power motives was scored from the texts of annual presidential addresses to the Federal Assembly from 1994 through 2018. Although there were fluctuations from president to president, and from year to year within each term, the Russian presidents overall tended to be higher in achievement than power. This contrasts with many political leaders from other countries and suggests modification in previous conclusions about the problems of high achievement motivation in politics. The scores of each president are related to the events and policies of that president's term of office. The third term of Vladimir Putin is particularly interesting, because his achievement scores were lower, and power and affiliation scores higher, than in his previous terms. These changes seem to fit with his changes in foreign and domestic policies from his earlier terms.
Historical Social Research, 2018
This article analyzes the recruitment of CEOs at the 100 largest German companies, focusing on ho... more This article analyzes the recruitment of CEOs at the 100 largest German companies, focusing on how the transition from "Deutschland AG" to integration with European and global markets has impacted the recruitment and career patterns as well as networks of German CEOs. This study found signs of both continuity and change. The percentage of technically educated German CEOs, as well as CEOs with a Ph.D., continues to be quite high. In contrast, the professionalization of managerial positions in Germany, the decline in corporate tenure, and a gradually opening recruitment market reflect the changing orientation of German corporate culture toward international markets. The analysis of the overall corporate network and its components reveals that the density of the overall corporate network in Ger-many has increased, which corresponds to the increased number of CEOs with shared alumni experience as well as with additional connections through various policy associations. The density of co-worker networks has, however, decreased. The structure of the German corporate network is not unified but consists of a set of highly dense groups (cliques). The findings and their implications for further research on change in German corporate structures are discussed.
Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology
East European Politics & Societies
This article focuses on the patterns of parliamentary representation and careers in post-communis... more This article focuses on the patterns of parliamentary representation and careers in post-communist Ukraine. The data includes individual information on 1768 members (with substitutes) of the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, from the parliamentary elections in 1990 through to 2007. Low chances for the social upward mobility of sociodemographic groups such as women and poorly educated people were identified, as well as the high impact of social status on inclusion in the political ruling strata, as exemplified by business elites. Furthermore, MPs with an entrepreneurial background have a greater chance of staying in parliament for three or more legislative terms. The chances of remaining in the Verkhovna Rada are also greater for former Supreme Council parliamentarians, while a high-ranking nomenklatura position has no significant effect on the status of an incumbent. Experience in a political party is crucial for a career in parliament. Parliamentarians with leading party ex...
see also Ministerial and Parliamentary Elites in an Executive-Dominated System: Post-Soviet Russia 1991-2009 (Comparative Sociology 10:908-927)
The article investigates continuities in the formation and careers of political elites in post-So... more The article investigates continuities in the formation and careers of political elites in post-Soviet Russia. Data on the recruitment and careers of MPs (from 1993 until 2003), cabinet ministers (1991 until 2011) and governors (from 1991 until 2011) were used. We identified a partial reproduction of the political elite which may be defined as reproduction circulation. The first form is structural reproduction that is evident in continuities of the socio-demographic profile of political elites. The second-strongest form of path dependency is functional reproduction that was found in career paths of political elites. Finally, individual reproduction was prominent. This reproduction should decrease over time, while functional and structural reproduction are likely to remain.
This article analyzes the recruitment and circulation of ministerial and parliamentary elites in ... more This article analyzes the recruitment and circulation of ministerial and parliamentary elites in Russia from the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991 until 2009. The social backgrounds and careers of all ministers in 13 cabinets (1991–2009) and all members of the State Duma during its five terms after 1993 are studied. Especially during Vladimír Putin’s presidency (2000–2008), a shift toward super-presidentialism altered the circulation and composition of ministerial and parliamentary elites. Cabinets in Moscow consisted increasingly of ministers recruited from state bureaucracies, while the State Duma more and more contained businessmen, party politicians, and celebrities who appeared to treat MP service as simply an episode in their wider careers.
This article focuses on the patterns of parliamentary representation and careers in post-communis... more This article focuses on the patterns of parliamentary representation and careers in post-communist Ukraine. The data includes individual information on 1768 members (with substitutes) of the Ukrainian parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, from the parliamentary elections in 1990 through to 2007. Low chances for the social upward mobility of socio-demographic groups such as women and poorly-educated people were identified, as well as the high impact of social status on inclusion in the political ruling strata, as exemplified by business elites. Furthermore, MPs with an entrepreneurial background have a greater chance of staying in parliament for three or more legislative terms. The chances of remaining in the Verkhovna Rada are also greater for former Supreme Council parliamentarians, while a high-ranking nomenklatura position has no significant effect on the status of an incumbent. Experience in a political party is crucial for a career in parliament. Parliamentarians with leading party experience prior to their recruitment are likely to obtain an incumbent status, while MPs who substitute their elected colleagues have lower chances of becoming long-standing incumbents.
Books by Elena Semenova
"Legislators are entrusted with key parliamentary functions and are important figures in the deci... more "Legislators are entrusted with key parliamentary functions and are important figures in the decision-making process. Their behavior as political elites is as much responsible for the failures and successes of the new democracies as their institutional designs and constitutional reforms.
This book provides a comparative examination of representative elites and their role in democratic development in post-communist Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). It argues that as the drivers of the transformation process in CEE, individual and collective parliamentary actors matter. The authors provide an in-depth analysis of representatives from eleven national parliaments and explore country-specific features of recruitment and representation. They draw on an integrated dataset of parliamentary elites for individual, party family, and parliamentary variables over the 20 years following the collapse of Communism and develop a common framework for the analysis of variations in democratization and political professionalization between parliaments and political parties/party families across CEE.
This unique volume will be of interest to students and scholars of comparative politics, elite research, post-communist politics, democratization, legislative studies, and parliamentary representation.
Content:
1. Representative Elite Formation after Communism: An Introduction Elena Semenova, Michael Edinger, and Heinrich Best 2. The Czech Parliament on the Road to Professionalisation and Stabilisation Zdenka Mansfeldova 3. Homogenisation and Freezing: Hungarian MPs 1990-2010 Gabriella Ilonszki and Andras Schwarcz 4. The Polish Diet since 1989 Jacek Wasilewski and Witold Betkiewicz 5. Parliamentary Representatives in an Ethno-Liberal Democracy: Estonia Mindaugas Kuklys 6. Legislative Elites and Ethnic Democracy in Latvia after 1990 Mindaugas Kuklys 7. Lithuanian Parliamentary Elites after 1990: Dilemmas of Political Representation and Political Professionalism Irmina Matonytė and Gintaras Sumskas 8. Croatian Parliamentary Elites Vlasta Ilišin and Goran Čular 9. The ‘Waiting Room’: Romanian Parliament after 1989 Laurenţiu Ştefan and Răzvan Grecu 10. Legislative Elite Formation in Moldova: Continuity and Change William Crowther 11. Parliamentary Representation and MPs in Russia: Historical Retrospective and Comparative Perspective Oxana Gaman-Golutvina 12. Parliamentary Representation in Post-Communist Ukraine: Change and Stability Elena Semenova 13. Conclusion: Parliamentarians in Post-communist Europe – Growing Diversity or Convergence? Michael Edinger, Heinrich Best, and Elena Semenova"""
Book Chapters by Elena Semenova
Heinrich Best, John Higley, Maurizio Cotta, Jean-Pascal Daloz, Ursula Hoffmann-Lange, Jan Pakulski, and Elena Semenova (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Political Elites. Palgrave MacMillan, 2018
The introduction to Part II, Research Methods for Studying Elites, highlights principal methodolo... more The introduction to Part II, Research Methods for Studying Elites, highlights principal methodological developments in the studies of political elites. They involve: (1) methods for explaining how institutions affect the behavior of elites (e.g., event-history analysis and Social Network Analysis), (2) methods for drawing inferences about political outcomes from the knowledge of elites’ behavior (e.g., surveys and experiments), and (3) methods for analyzing the interactions of various elite groups (e.g., observations and interviews of elite members). In addition, methods that have been rarely used in political elite research (e.g., fuzzy-set typologies and fuzzy cognitive maps) are discussed in terms of their merits for examining elite attitudes, structures, and interactions.
Uploads
Papers by Elena Semenova
Books by Elena Semenova
This book provides a comparative examination of representative elites and their role in democratic development in post-communist Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). It argues that as the drivers of the transformation process in CEE, individual and collective parliamentary actors matter. The authors provide an in-depth analysis of representatives from eleven national parliaments and explore country-specific features of recruitment and representation. They draw on an integrated dataset of parliamentary elites for individual, party family, and parliamentary variables over the 20 years following the collapse of Communism and develop a common framework for the analysis of variations in democratization and political professionalization between parliaments and political parties/party families across CEE.
This unique volume will be of interest to students and scholars of comparative politics, elite research, post-communist politics, democratization, legislative studies, and parliamentary representation.
Content:
1. Representative Elite Formation after Communism: An Introduction Elena Semenova, Michael Edinger, and Heinrich Best 2. The Czech Parliament on the Road to Professionalisation and Stabilisation Zdenka Mansfeldova 3. Homogenisation and Freezing: Hungarian MPs 1990-2010 Gabriella Ilonszki and Andras Schwarcz 4. The Polish Diet since 1989 Jacek Wasilewski and Witold Betkiewicz 5. Parliamentary Representatives in an Ethno-Liberal Democracy: Estonia Mindaugas Kuklys 6. Legislative Elites and Ethnic Democracy in Latvia after 1990 Mindaugas Kuklys 7. Lithuanian Parliamentary Elites after 1990: Dilemmas of Political Representation and Political Professionalism Irmina Matonytė and Gintaras Sumskas 8. Croatian Parliamentary Elites Vlasta Ilišin and Goran Čular 9. The ‘Waiting Room’: Romanian Parliament after 1989 Laurenţiu Ştefan and Răzvan Grecu 10. Legislative Elite Formation in Moldova: Continuity and Change William Crowther 11. Parliamentary Representation and MPs in Russia: Historical Retrospective and Comparative Perspective Oxana Gaman-Golutvina 12. Parliamentary Representation in Post-Communist Ukraine: Change and Stability Elena Semenova 13. Conclusion: Parliamentarians in Post-communist Europe – Growing Diversity or Convergence? Michael Edinger, Heinrich Best, and Elena Semenova"""
Book Chapters by Elena Semenova
This book provides a comparative examination of representative elites and their role in democratic development in post-communist Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). It argues that as the drivers of the transformation process in CEE, individual and collective parliamentary actors matter. The authors provide an in-depth analysis of representatives from eleven national parliaments and explore country-specific features of recruitment and representation. They draw on an integrated dataset of parliamentary elites for individual, party family, and parliamentary variables over the 20 years following the collapse of Communism and develop a common framework for the analysis of variations in democratization and political professionalization between parliaments and political parties/party families across CEE.
This unique volume will be of interest to students and scholars of comparative politics, elite research, post-communist politics, democratization, legislative studies, and parliamentary representation.
Content:
1. Representative Elite Formation after Communism: An Introduction Elena Semenova, Michael Edinger, and Heinrich Best 2. The Czech Parliament on the Road to Professionalisation and Stabilisation Zdenka Mansfeldova 3. Homogenisation and Freezing: Hungarian MPs 1990-2010 Gabriella Ilonszki and Andras Schwarcz 4. The Polish Diet since 1989 Jacek Wasilewski and Witold Betkiewicz 5. Parliamentary Representatives in an Ethno-Liberal Democracy: Estonia Mindaugas Kuklys 6. Legislative Elites and Ethnic Democracy in Latvia after 1990 Mindaugas Kuklys 7. Lithuanian Parliamentary Elites after 1990: Dilemmas of Political Representation and Political Professionalism Irmina Matonytė and Gintaras Sumskas 8. Croatian Parliamentary Elites Vlasta Ilišin and Goran Čular 9. The ‘Waiting Room’: Romanian Parliament after 1989 Laurenţiu Ştefan and Răzvan Grecu 10. Legislative Elite Formation in Moldova: Continuity and Change William Crowther 11. Parliamentary Representation and MPs in Russia: Historical Retrospective and Comparative Perspective Oxana Gaman-Golutvina 12. Parliamentary Representation in Post-Communist Ukraine: Change and Stability Elena Semenova 13. Conclusion: Parliamentarians in Post-communist Europe – Growing Diversity or Convergence? Michael Edinger, Heinrich Best, and Elena Semenova"""