Comparative research of the elite of the Mid-Volga national republics of the Russina Federation

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During the research term (1998-2000) several research trips were organized to Tatarstan, Mari-E1, Bashkortostan, and Chuvashi. As a result of contract researches huge amount of data on chronicles, biographies of elites, and cadre reshuffling at the raion and city level were accumulated and the data on Tatarstan, Mordova and Udmurtiya have already been published in Russian. Two collections of papers were published in Japanese (State Building and the Elite in Tatarstan and Udmurtiya ; Invitation to the Russian Islamic World). Panels were organized at the Winter symposiums at the Slavic Research Center in 1999 and 2000. The research results were presented also abroad by Matsuzato at the arnnual conventions of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies held in St. Louis in November 1999, by Uyama at an international symposium held in Bishkek in October 2000.As a result of the comparative analysis focused on the diversification of the political regimes of the national republics of Russia, we advocated several new concepts, such as "centralized caciquismo, " in the international academic community. Our historical analysis of the Mid-Volga macro-region covering the period up to the 16th century established a bridgehead for the future Russian Islamic studies and the study of Finno-Ugric nations. In addition, we examined the significance and implications of primordial approaches to nationalities in contemporary ethnopolitics of the national republics of Russia.